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A lot has gone wrong for Manchester United this season and new co-owners INEOS are desperate to right the wrongs of the Glazers and a pivotal summer transfer window lies ahead for the club.
But before the new-look behind-the-scenes team can get on with the recruitment side of things, the club will need to move on players due to FFP restrictions.
And Sir Jim Ratcliffe is already planning a large-scale summer exodus with the number of players set to depart in double figures.
One of them is set to be Donny van de Beek, who left the club on loan in January to join Eintracht Frankfurt but has endured a nightmarish spell so far.
Donny’s uncertain future
The Netherlands international has started only four times for the German club with manager Dino Toppmoller even going as far as to exclude him from the UEFA Conference League squad.
The Bundesliga club are unlikely to trigger the €10 million buy option included in his loan contract, which means the former Ajax star is all set to return to Manchester where he has hardly got a look-in since his €39 million move back in 2020.
He started only 19 games in his first two seasons with both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim manager Ralf Rangnick not deeming him good enough to start games consistently for the club.
And despite his former Ajax boss’ arrival, his fortunes did not improve with only four starts coming his way last season while Ten Hag played him for 21 minutes in the first-half of the campaign which prompted the loan exit.
The 20-time English league champions are desperate to move him on irrespective of what they decide with Ten Hag considering the midfielder’s considerable weekly wages of £120,000. His current deal will have one year left come June.
His former Eredivisie club were linked with a move but they are refusing to pay anywhere close to United’s valuation and now Givemesport have claimed that the club could even agree to terminate his contract and release him on a free judging from the response from suitors.
Let him leave on a free
“He is still only 26, so you would like to think this can turnaround, but you get to a stage with a player like this where you have to consider drawing a line under it.
“Van de Beek has one year left at Manchester United, but the fact the loan spell at Frankfurt has failed to ignite any upturn in form or confidence suggests he is not going to be able to level-up to force his way into that team by next season. I doubt even a change of manager is going to change that.
“It is a pretty sad situation because he should have been a good signing. If Frankfurt don’t want to buy him, the options for Manchester United are going to be another loan or a cheap sale elsewhere. At this stage, it might even be a case of agreeing to let him leave for free if it gets him off the wage bill.”
His current market value stands at an abysmal €7 million and it is sad to see how far Van de Beek’s stocks have fallen since his Ajax days when United had to beat Real Madrid to win the race for the Dutchman, who was a Ballon d’Or nominee at that point.
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