Manchester United’s move to sign Donny van de Beek has been critiqued by Patrice Evra and Gary Neville as the midfielder is having a hard time in sealing his spot in the team.
Van de Beek was on the bench all through in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Chelsea and is yet to start a Premier League game for the Red Devils since joining from Ajax over the summer.
Head Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is blessed with plenty of depth in midfield and has preferred to give more minutes to the likes of Scott McTominay, Fred and Paul Pogba.
With Van de Beek struggling to force himself into the grand scheme of things, Evra has opined that United simply don’t need the Dutchman as things stand.
“We’re talking about Van de Beek, nothing against the kid, but why have we bought him? He’s watching the game from the stand every game,” Evra said via Sky Sports. “We don’t need him, that’s the truth.”
The 23-year-old has made seven appearances for Solskjaer’s side so far this season but has played just 59 minutes in the Premier League and was only given a two-minute cameo in the Champions League.
Neville admitting that the Red Devils decision to spend so much money on Van de Beek has yet to be vindicated and that the player himself will be disappointed not to be playing more.
“What is a little bit of a mystery is the use of Van de Beek since he’s been signed for £40 million,” Neville said.
“He doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans in every game. It’s a bit of a mystery that one. And the more he doesn’t start, and the more he doesn’t come on, the more you’re thinking, ‘Well £40m player, ordinarily you’d get him in the team’.
“He must be thinking: ‘What am I doing here?’ at this moment in time.”
While question marks linger over Van de Beek, Solskjaer is adamant the Dutchman’s time will come and that it’s always difficult to decide who misses out on game time.
“Don’t worry about that. He’ll get his games. Don’t worry about that,” Solskjaer told Sky Sports. “It’s easy to say who should be playing and more difficult to say who shouldn’t.”
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