Van de Beek was wanted by clubs, loved by legends – why can’t he get a game?

Donny van de Beek’s fall from grace at Manchester United is about more than just his struggles at Old Trafford.

It’s the height reached by the former Ajax midfielder at such a young age, creating such a distance to tumble.

Sat on alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba, last Saturday would feel like an achievement for most footballers, but Van de Beek has been among the substitutes far too often.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has only started the Netherlands international four times in the Premier League since his £35million arrival in the summer of 2020.

And on 21 occasions in the top-flight, Van de Beek has been left on the bench, much to the disquiet of many in his native country.

While his agent recently told talkSPORT the 24-year-old is willing to be patient and wait for his opportunity, Van de Beek was seen venting his frustration after remaining unused against Villarreal in the Champions League last week.

Watching Fred deliver such a poor display against Everton in United’s most recent underwhelming performance, many fans will surely ask: Van de Beek can’t be that bad?

Well, he’s not. In fact, many in the Netherlands expected him to become one of the next legendary Dutch footballers.

The Ajax youth system is famous for producing the likes of Johan Cruyff and Dennis Bergkamp, both of whom thought Van de Beek was on the path to greatness.

His former manager, Ronald de Boer, has revealed Arsenal legend Bergkamp saw glimpses of himself in Van de Beek while coaching the midfielder as a youngster.

“Dennis [Bergkamp] started talking enthusiastically about a talent in his youth team,” De Boer once recalled.

“It was a boy who reminded Dennis of himself at that age. That was the signal for me to keep an eye on that guy. That was Donny.”

Fun fact, Van de Beek is currently dating Bergkamp’s daughter, Estelle.

Meanwhile, Van de Beek’s father revealed the legendary Cruyff was also a fan of his son.

Andre van de Beek once revealed: “Johan [Cruyff] said, ‘I know your son, yes. That is Donny van de Beek. He is good at this and good at that’.

“He was able to tell everything. Do you know how strange it is that your idol knows everything about your son? He was able to tell everything down to the smallest detail.”

It all started so well. After progressing through the academy’s ranks, an 18-year-old Van de Beek debuted for the first-team in a Europa League match against Celtic in November 2015.

Within months, Van de Beek established himself as a regular under De Boer, with Barcelona and Bayern Munich already interested in his services.

Ajax took Europe by storm in 2018/19, with Van de Beek at the centre of things as the Dutch club won their first Eredivisie title in five years and reached the last four of the Champions League.

The Dutch needed no convincing, but he was brought to the attention of English football fans with a goal and a man-of-the-match display against Tottenham in the first leg of their dramatic Champions League semi-final.

And even former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was wowed by the midfielder.

Before Tottenham completed their second-leg comeback, Poch said: “Van de Beek. Nobody talks much about him.

“But he has a dynamic in the game, he gets behind Tadic, he arrives, he works, he scores goals.

“Logically, I love De Jong and De Ligt. But the example of the operation of this Ajax is Van de Beek. I like very much. They have a young player, from the academy, in each line, that shows what the team is.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Tottenham were reportedly interested in Van de Beek. United had to fight off stiff competition from Real Madrid to secure his signature, too.

Deployable as a No. 10 or a No. 6, attacking midfield or box-to-box, Van de Beek feels like the answer to a lot of Solskjaer’s problems.

Instead, many are left pointing at weaknesses in the Red Devils’ midfield, asking why they didn’t sign someone in the summer.

Truth is, United did sign a pretty good midfielder last year, they just won’t give him a chance.