Donny van de Beek's former agent claims Paul Pogba got special treatment at Man Utd

Donny van de Beek was left frustrated at Manchester United last season when he witnessed alleged special treatment handed out to Paul Pogba and still didn’t get opportunities himself, his former agent has claimed.

Van De Beek hardly featured during his debut season at United following a £40m transfer from Ajax in 2020. He then put in extra in the summer of 2021 to try and force his way into then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans, but nothing really changed.

The Dutchman, nominated for the 2019 Ballon d’Or as a result of Champions League performances for Ajax, was keen to leave in January and eventually secured a loan exit to Everton. But he is back in Manchester this season and has been on the periphery again even after reuniting with Erik ten Hag.

Guido Albers, who was recently also critical of United for how Jackie Groenen’s exit to Paris Saint-Germain was handled, no longer represents Van De Beek after being replaced by Ali Dursun in 2021.

“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,” Albers told Voetbal Primeur.

“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.

Listen now to 90min's Manchester United podcast, The Promised Land, with Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette. In the latest episode they discuss David de Gea and whether Jordan Pickford could replace him at Old Trafford, as well as Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw.

"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?"

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