Van de Beek was offered the hope that he would indeed play a part in Man Utd’s plans this season, with Ole Gunnar arguing that the Dutchman remains important to the collective cause.
What did Solskjaer say?
The evidence has not been overwhelming since the Dutch international midfielder completed his £ 35million move from Ajax in the summer of 2020. The 24-year-old was capped at just four Premier League starts in his debut campaign, while he is yet to see a single minute of competitive action in 2021-22.
Ole Gunnar once again favored other options in the 1-1 draw at Southampton, but then told reporters when it comes to opportunities for those who saw more bench than they would have liked that whenever you don’t win the game, you look at her, but Ole always looks at her the same way when you win. What could they have done differently? Ole thought Matic was great, Martial was close to scoring a goal, but Sancho and Donny van de Beek would be important to them.
A little about the topic
Matic, Fernandes, Pogba and Fred were handed the starting piers against Southampton, while Sancho and McTominay were brought in from the bench. Donny was an unused spare, along with Daniel James and Juan Mata. He faces fierce competition for seats when it comes to earning minutes for the Utd, with his last run in the Premier League final against the wolves in 2020-21.
Donny van de Beek had no part in the final Europa League defeat to Villarreal before being left out of the way for Dutch Euro 2020 on his back with an untimely injury. Talk of a withdrawal was sparked earlier this summer, especially since Ole appears to be still on the hunt for another holding midfielder, but for now he remains at Old Trafford and tied to a 2025 contract.