Manchester United might not find it that easy to sell Donny van de Beek this summer, according to Ben Jacobs in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
Although the Netherlands international’s future at Man Utd is in some doubt ahead of the summer, it might not be entirely straightforward to get rid of him after his serious injury.
Jacobs discussed a number of possible outgoings at Old Trafford this summer, mentioning the likes of Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay as well as Van de Beek.
Still, even if the former Ajax man has struggled in his time at United, this might not be the ideal summer for the club to look for a buyer for him as teams might be reluctant to go in for him after only just returning from a lengthy injury lay-off.
This could, interestingly, hand Van de Beek another opportunity to win over Erik ten Hag in pre-season.
“Donny van de Beek is another potential outgoing,” Jacobs said. “But it’s tricky now since the Dutch midfielder is out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury. It’s hard to instantly sell a player returning from a long-term injury.
“And, during rehabilitation, it can be demotivating for the player if they sense they’ll be straight out the door when fit.
“Van de Beek is clearly available on the market if the right offer comes, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he sticks around through pre-season and tries to show what he’s capable of.
“That’s the beauty of how ten Hag is handling all his players. He is frank but fair with them and that creates far more of a ‘player meritocracy’ than Manchester United have had under recent managers. So even those out of the starting XI still feel they can earn a chance.”