Donny van de Beek has another Manchester United problem and there's nothing he can do about it

Just over two years after joining Manchester United for an initial fee of £35million, Donny van de Beek must be wondering when his Old Trafford nightmare is going to end.

The Netherlands international, who swapped Amsterdam for Manchester off the back of a stellar 2019/20 campaign in September 2020, has made just three appearances so far this season and has not started a game for United since last December. His hopes of resurrecting his career under Erik ten Hag have so far failed to materialise and he has become more familiar with the Carrington treatment room than he has the Old Trafford playing surface in recent weeks.

He will once again be absent for tonight's Europa League clash with Omonia Nicosia because of a muscle injury, stretching the number of games he has been sidelined for to seven. He has not featured since the 2-1 win over Liverpool in August, meaning he has lost valuable time in his quest to get his United career off the ground under a manager he knows inside out.

READ MORE: United issue Anthony Martial update ahead of Omonia clash

But what will be all the more frustrating for Van de Beek is that tonight's clash with Omonia is United's fourth game of nine this month. The Reds' October schedule is jam-packed with fixtures, so much so that the longest break Ten Hag and his players will get in between matches this month is just four days. It is relentless.

Juggling the bread and butter of the Premier League and the Europa League means that Ten Hag is having to manage his squad the best he can. Injuries have been slowly mounting up in recent weeks, meaning he has not been able to rotate his pack as much as he probably would have liked.

In midfield, United are not short of options when everyone is available,