Manchester United are reportedly ready to offload Donny van de Beek in January with the club accepting the £40m they shelled out for him is now an expensive mistake.
The Dutch midfielder is now in his third season at United, having arrived from Ajax in September 2020. Arriving with a reputation as one of the elite midfielders in Europe, United saw Van de Beek as a potential replacement for Paul Pogba, amid ongoing uncertainty over his future.
However, his time at Old Trafford has never got going. Van de Beek has been limited to just 53 appearances for the Red Devils and has never commanded a regular shirt. When given the chance, Van de Beek has struggled to make a telling contribution too. Indeed, in his time as a Manchester United player, the 25-year-old has just two goals and one assist to his name.
A string of bosses have also failed to get the Netherlands star firing too. As such, it was no surprise to see him loaned out to Everton for the second half of last season in a bid to kickstart his career.
But his time at Goodison also failed to produce dividends. However, the appointment of his former Ajax coach, Erik ten Hag, at Old Trafford was tipped to play a key role in his renaissance.
But Ten Hag has also been unable to find a place in his side for Van de Beek either. To date, he has just three appearances to his name this season.
A report earlier this month claimed Van de Beek regrets his decision to ever sign for United in the first place.
United accept Donny van de Beek transfer mistake
However, that feeling is more than likely two-way, with United now also reportedly admitting privately that his signing was an error of judgement.
He has reportedly been cleared to leave by Ten Hag, who sees no future for him in his United side.
As such, The Sun claims United are ready to offload the midfielder to the highest bidder in January.
His former club Ajax remain among his suitors, having been priced out of a move over the summer. There is interest from Italy too, with Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan all credited with an interest.
However, it is Leicester who are most prominently linked, with Brendan Rodgers seeking a replacement for Youri Tielemans.
The Belgian star will be out of contract in just eight months time. As such, he is eligible to sign pre-contract terms with overseas suitors from January 1.
However, Leicester are keen to offload him in January and ensure they claim some money back on their investment.
They are reportedly looking for around £15m for the star, with the money likely to be used on prising Van de Beek from United.
And that is a figure likely to be accepted by Old Trafford chiefs. Ten Hag wants further additions to his squad in January, with the money generated from his sale going back into United’s transfer kitty.
Sky Sports man laments poor choices by United midfielder
Meanwhile, Dharmesh Sheth has also strongly suggested United are willing to sell Van de Beek in January.
He feels the time has come for both player and club to part ways – and reckons the midfielder will have designs on a move overseas.
Either way, Sheth, speaking to Givemesport, reckons United will have to accept a sizeable loss on their initial £40m investment.
Furthermore, he suggests Van de Beek made the wrong choice last January in moving to Everton on loan.
“You never know. Come January, there’s potential that United might think they should cut their losses and see if there’s a club who would be willing to pay money for Donny van de Beek,” Sheth said.
“It was interesting to note that in the January transfer window – when Van de Beek went to Everton – I think United’s preference would probably have been for him to have gone to a European club, where the play and the build-up play is slightly slower and more suited to van de Beek’s style of play.
“He could have got a lot more games had he gone abroad, maybe performed well, come back to United and maintained a good value.
“But, instead, he went to Everton. Effectively, what has happened to him at United happened to him at Everton because it probably wasn’t the right choice.”
READ MORE: Six players Man Utd could look to sell in the January transfer window
Ten Hag to cut losses on expensive flop as Sky Sports man bemoans player for wrong choices
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