Agent Guido Albers has admitted it was a huge disappointment to be dropped by Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek because he didn’t see it coming.
The Manchester United player made the surprise decision to swap agents last October in an effort to secure a move away from Old Trafford following a miserable period at the club.
He joined from Ajax in a €39m deal in September 2020, having shone for the Dutch giants in both the Eredivisie and the Champions League.
He’s found himself playing a supporting role at best at Manchester United since that point though, failing to impress either Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick or Erik ten Hag.
He wanted to leave in a permanent move last summer but could not secure it, leading him to make the decision to swap from agent Guido Albers to Ali Dursun.
That’s caused issues, with his former agent unhappy about the decision, even claiming it had broken the contract he had signed with the Dutch midfielder.
He’s now detailed his side of the story to the #DoneDeal podcast, explaining how much the decision affected him personally.
“But after a disappointment, they get on the next train. Then when I ask to explain what I might not have done right, nothing comes. That’s a shame, though.
“I didn’t see it coming. I saw the disappointment about the way he was treated by Manchester United, and he saw up close what I did to turn the situation around. But from the day he was not allowed to leave Manchester United again, it was final.
“In the Netherlands, Donny got all the appreciation, performed well and was super popular with the fans.
“At Manchester United he then never played. The relationship between him and the club really cooled down badly.
“He had to compete against Paul Pogba, who reported late to the training camp, said sorry and was allowed to play again – in the place of a boy who was training 10 hours a day for eight weeks to show he was good enough. I then had that disappointment thrown at me.
“I underestimated what not playing anymore did to him mentally. I should have looked earlier: how can I help him?”
