Donny van de Beek’s situation at Manchester United is one of the major stories in football right now, largely thanks to the player’s agent.
Guido Albers has spoken to the Dutch media twice in the past week, complaining about his client’s status at Old Trafford. He’s explained that efforts were made for a late transfer, with Albers contacting clubs he thought may be interested, but that Manchester United weren’t prepared to cooperate over a move.
The late nature of the attempts doesn’t put the agent in the best light, and there’s a chance that all the words being pushed to the Dutch media are a distraction from Albers failing to manage Van de Beek’s career in the right way.
For a long time, the media in the Netherlands have been wondering how it will be possible for the player to get minutes, given they see him as being in direct competition to Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.
Whilst some Manchester United supporters believe Van de Beek could be deployed in a deeper role, the player’s agent sees him as a No.10, and that’s also the general Dutch view.
After Albers had spoken on Sunday, Marco van Basten gave his view, and is quoted by Voetbal Zone as saying: “It just wasn’t smart choices. If you say you spoke to Real Madrid and then you go to Manchester United, you are betting way too high. Van de Beek is not that good. As number ten at Ajax it is much easier than as number ten in Spain or England. In the Netherlands you get a lot of help, you get opportunities, but that is not the case abroad.”
