Donny van de Beek remains an ‘outstanding footballer’ with the Eintracht Frankfurt head coach backing the club’s pursuit of Manchester United’s Premier League misfit.
It says a lot about just how far Donny Van de Beek is down the pecking order at Old Trafford these days that, even with Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen unavailable at Anfield, the most natural attacking midfield option left available to Erik ten Hag didn’t even get off the bench during Sunday’s bore draw.
The appointment of former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag at Manchester United in 2022 was supposed to save Van de Beek’s Premier League career. Instead, its all-but ended it. Van de Beek has found minutes just as hard to come by under Ten Hag as he did under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
And the Red Devils will not stand in his way with a January departure edging closer by the day. Van de Beek, per Fabrizio Romano, will undergo a medical at Eintracht Frankfurt before joining the 2022 Europa League winners on a £13 million loan-to-buy deal.
Donny Van de Beek set for Manchester United exit
“He’s not our player yet,” Dino Toppmoller, head coach at the Commerzbank Arena, tells FAZ.
“I think everyone who knows a little bit about football knows that he is an outstanding footballer. If he signs, we would be looking forward to it.”
Toppmoller is keen to revive one of the ‘super youngsters’ who provided the backbone of Ajax’s stunning run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019, Van de Beek’s career stalling and crashing while that of his former midfield partner Frenkie de Jong went from zero to 60.
Van de Beek has made only one brief Premier League appearance throughout the entirety of the current campaign.
Bundesliga bound
“Had a good quick chat with Van de Beek in the corridors of Anfield,” ViaPlay reporter Jan Aage Fjortoft wrote on X on Sunday night.
“I told him what a great club Eintracht Frankfurt is, (about) the good people in and around the club, and told him he will love it there.
“He is excited about it! Traveling there (on Monday) it seems! Please give him a great welcome, friends.”
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