Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmoller is pleading patience with Donny van de Beek as the Manchester United misfit arrives in the Bundesliga having barely played any first-team football in three-and-a-half years.
As Red Devils supporters race to proclaim Jadon Sancho the worst signing of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era – the winger’s Old Trafford nightmare over (for now at least) after re-joining Borussia Dortmund on a temporary basis – Donny van de Beek is surely battling Sancho for a place on that particular podium.
A £35 million acquisition from Ajax in 2020, Van de Beek started almost as many league games (five) in a short-lived loan spell at Everton as he did (six) in three-and-a-half years at Manchester United.
News of his departure, then, was met no so much with messages of ‘good luck’ but of ‘good riddance.
Two Man United misfits head to the Bundesliga
Van de Beek joined Frankfurt on a £9.4 million loan-to-buy deal shortly after Christmas (ESPN).
Die Adler boss Dino Toppmoller, however, knows that patience is a virtue with both Van de Beek and Sasa Kalajdzic, the sky-scraping centre-forward who arrives after a similarly forgettable spell in England with Wolves.
“The two of them are not in the rhythm of the game. We are trying to integrate them,” Toppmoller tells Kicker.
“It is not about them playing outstandingly in their first two games, but about helping us throughout the entire second half of the season.”
Van de Beek could make his Frankfurt debut away to RB Leipzig on Saturday. He may also go head-to-head with Sancho when the 2022 Europa League winners host Dortmund in May.
Injury hit and out of favour
“From the moment I came here at United, he wasn’t the player I had at Ajax,” Erik ten Hag explained prior to Monday’s 2-0 FA Cup victory over Wigan Athletic. “Because he was injured and so many times he was unavailable.
“Then he struggled for a long time with recovering from that injury. So, I think that is probably the main reason for why he wasn’t playing.”
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