It's fair to say that Donny van de Beek's time at Manchester United has been nothing short of a disaster. The Dutch midfielder was courted by Real Madrid back in 2020 on the back of a fine, albeit shortened, Eredivisie, with 2019/20 curtailed early due to COVID-19, but with eight goals and five assists in 23 league outings, it was little shock to see Los Blancos credited with an interest in Van de Beek.
What was surprising, though, was seeing United confirm his arrival from Ajax in August 2020. United already had Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes on the books, and the priority, at least among fans, was to bring in a ball winner in the middle of the park rather than another attack-minded central midfielder. They finally addressed the former this summer with the signing of Casemiro from Real Madrid, yet, coupled with the addition of Christian Eriksen, all that did was add another body for Van de Beek to bypass in the pecking order.
To say Van de Beek has struggled for minutes following his move to Old Trafford would be an understatement. Granted, in the opening season of his United career, this could be seen as a way of bedding him in slowly as he totalled just 515 minutes of Premier League game time. Since his debut campaign, though, the minutes have dropped, so much so that since the start of last season, Van de Beek has registered just 99 fewer minutes for Everton (484) in the Premier League than he has United (583) in all competitions.
Even with former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag at the helm, things haven't gotten much better for Van de Beek. In the past week, though, the Netherlands international has started three successive games for United. Van de Beek featured from the outset in meetings with Real Sociedad and Aston Villa in the Europa League, Premier League and Carabao Cup, respectively... and was hauled off around the hour mark in all three matches.
He started in the number 10 role in all three games in Ten Hag's favoured 4-2-3-1 setup, but struggled to make the most of his time on the pitch. Indeed, Van de Beek created just one goalscoring opportunity in 186 minutes of game time. This month, only Fred (6.06) has earned a lower WhoScored rating than Van de Beek (6.18) of United players to have featured in two of three matches in November, and one of the Brazilian's appearances was an eight-minute cameo off the bench against Real Sociedad.
🤔 Did Donny van de Beek make a key pass?
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) November 11, 2022
❌ 🆚 Real Sociedad
1⃣ 🆚 Aston Villa
❌ 🆚 Aston Villa
😐 In his 3 Manchester United starts this season, Van de Beek has created 𝟭 goalscoring opportunity... pic.twitter.com/DDaHOUscvG
Van de Beek completed 34 passes across those games, four fewer than Fred, while Alejandro Garnacho, a winger by trade, actually completed more (46) in his two outings. For a player in his position in a United side that is expected to dominate opponents, supporters have every right to expect more. Of course there are perhaps a number of mitigating circumstances that will have impacted Van de Beek's influence in this United side. Prior to a sub appearance against FC Sheriff at the end of October, he hadn't featured since coming on late on against Liverpool at the end of August.
Given the lack of minutes, rustiness will have played its part, but even so; fans have been pining for Van de Beek to be handed a chance under Ten Hag. After three opportunities in quick succession, supporters may be hoping it's his last. So what next for Van de Beek? Well, another loan move is out of the question, as confirmed by Ten Hag on Friday. "I don’t think the loan makes sense," the United boss stated. Rather, Van de Beek has two options now. "He fights and proves himself in this environment or he goes, but for me, there is still a way for him," the United boss added.
Given he is currently sixth choice central midfielder at Old Trafford, he'll have to fight hard to convince Ten Hag he is worthy of a spot in the immediate XI, and his showings against Real Sociedad and Villa suggests it's more mountainous than the United boss may care to publicly admit. In addition, Van de Beek has two-and-a-half years left to run on the five-year deal he penned when he moved to United, and you can be sure the Premier League side will want to recoup as much of the reported £35m they paid to secure his services back in 2020.
It does speak volumes that United were 2-1 down against Villa on Thursday night when Van de Beek went off, and then went on to win 4-2, with Garnacho, one of those who came on in Ten Hag's triple sub on the hour mark, registering two assists. Having essentially played with 10 men for so long, they looked far more fluid without Van de Beek, which should be a concern for the player.
Having been overlooked by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and now Ten Hag for the most part during his time in Manchester, the latter gave Van de Beek a three-game streak with which to essentially save his United career. It was a chance the 25-year-old failed to take and while Ten Hag believes the player now has two choices with his United career at a crossroads, for many the choice has already been made for him and that a January exit would be a move that suits all parties.
