Donny van de Beek 'wants to leave' Man Utd over lack of minutes
By Tom Gott
Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek is said to be considering his future at the club after spending most of his debut season at Old Trafford on the bench.
A £35m signing from Ajax last summer, Van de Beek has made 26 appearances in all competitions, but just two of those have come as starts in the Premier League, and he has completed more than 45 minutes just once.
It has undoubtedly been a strange situation, although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's hands have been tied somewhat by the excellent form of Bruno Fernandes, who commands most of the minutes in Van de Beek's preferred number ten role.
He was tipped to pursue a move away back in January, only for a Dutch report to state that he was not interested in leaving and instead wanted to fight for his spot at Old Trafford, but the Daily Star now think otherwise.
As the story goes, Van de Beek has grown tired of his lack of minutes and fears that he will never be given the chance to prove himself in Manchester, and he has now decided that he may have to leave the club to reignite his career.
Van de Beek is planning crunch talks with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward before the end of the season in an attempt to find answers over why he has not been given the kind of role he was promised this year.
It's a tricky one to wrap your head around. Van de Beek was believed to be settled in January, yet now appears to have changed his mind, despite being injured and unavailable for the best part of a month now.
A large part of his fears stem from the possibility of missing out on a spot in the Netherlands' squad for the upcoming European Championships.
Once a regular starter, Van de Beek was forced to accept a role off the bench in November's Nations League meetings with Bosnia and Poland, and he is now thought to be concerned that he might not even make the squad at all.
Whether United would consider letting Van de Beek go after just 12 months is unknown. He remains under contract until 2025, and the club can also extend his deal by a further year, so there is no pressure on the Red Devils to sort this out just yet.