Manchester United might have thought they’d seen the last of their £34 million forgotten man. Or, at least, they’d have hoped they’d seen the last of him.
The sight of the Old Trafford misfit returning then, perhaps for the first day of pre-season, will provide a rather stark reminder of the substantial clean-up job facing Ineos following their seizing of control of all football operations.
Manchester United included an option-to-buy clause in the midfielder’s contract when they sent him out on loan during the January transfer window.
But with Donny van de Beek struggling at Eintracht Frankfurt – one pundit believes he is playing ‘even worse’ in Germany than he was in England – any hopes United had of a permanent departure, and a £13 million windfall, have surely gone up in smoke already.
What next for Donny van de Beek at Manchester United?
Ineos, then, may find themselves in the rather frustrating position of having to find buyers for Van de Beek, Jadon Sancho, Alvaro Fernandez, Hannibal Mejbri and co, a host of loaned-out players seemingly destined to end up back at Carrington come the summer.
“It is what it is,” sighs Estelle Bergkamp, Van de Beek’s girlfriend speaking to De Telegraaf about what the future holds for the Dutch international.
“Donny tries very hard. He always does that, and I have nothing but admiration for that. We will see what comes our way in the future.”
Estelle, the daughter of Dutch legend Dennis Bergkamp, was asked about a potential return to the Netherlands, the prospect of a second spell at Ajax the subject of much discussion back home. She’s certainly not ruling it out either.
“Who knows?,” Estelle adds. “Of course, the Netherlands is always nice, but we are now also very happy abroad. We will see how things go in the future.”
Ajax return may be on the cards
One thing is for sure, Man United must find some way to bring an end to their Van de Beek saga. Perhaps they may be tempted to take the Arsenal route, and terminate the contract of a man who has just over 12 months remaining on his deal and taking the financial hit.
Arsenal certainly benefitted from such an approach, reducing their wage bill while letting Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sokratis and co leave for free.
Van de Beek has started only four Bundesliga games out of 10 so far for Frankfurt.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
