Donny van de Beek arrived at Manchester United in the summer window with great fanfare, and high hopes attached to him.
The midfielder had done well with Ajax, but had to wait a year longer than Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt to get his big move. His two former teammates took some time to settle in at Barcelona and Juventus and the same, to a bigger degree, is the case for Van de Beek.
So far this season he’s featured in 27 matches for Ole Gunner Solskajer’s side,. Whilst that sounds like a good figure most of the appearances have been brief. During his time on the pitch, the 23-year-old hasn’t really shown that he must be starting every week, and there’s a balance to be made between giving him matches and simply putting the best team out.
All of this has been causing some concern in the Netherlands, where there’s been doubts over whether Van de Beek will ever truly make the grade at Manchester United.
Frank de Boer, manager of the Dutch national team, has been asked about the player’s current problems. Voetbal International quote him as saying: “His situation is more difficult. He is in the early stages of his career. I wouldn’t immediately throw the towel in either. He still wants to show himself. I think it is a logical step that he wants to fight in the team. Let’s hope that will happen. I have not had any doubts yet.”
Van de Beek can now hope to play a meaningful role for Oranje during the current international break.
