Donny van de Beek has not passed test Erik ten Hag set him at Manchester United

Donny van de Beek featured in every one of the six friendlies Manchester United played this summer.

No other player played in each of United's pre-season fixtures and the playmaker managed to rack up over 300 minutes of game time. Many predicted that he would get back to his best under his former Ajax boss after a dismal couple of seasons at Old Trafford.

However, while Van de Beek has shown glimpses of his quality - which included an assist against Melbourne Victory during the tour of Australia - it hasn't been the fairytale reunion with Ten Hag so far.

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He is yet to prove that he deserves to start ahead of Christian Eriksen or indeed Bruno Fernandes. That’s not to say he has done anything wrong, but he hasn’t done anything spectacular either, and United need above-average this season if they are to get back into the top four.

Earlier this summer Ten Hag set Van de Beek a challenge: “Donny has the capability, I have seen it, but he has to prove himself," he said.

And previously, upon arriving at United in 2020, Van de Beek himself underlined he has to earn his stripes again regardless of his achievements at Ajax. He said: “I will start at zero again at Manchester United. If you start down the ladder you can begin to climb up again. It’s now up to me to see how high I can reach. And I see this as a challenge.”

Van de Beek does seem primed for more game time under Ten Hag. But with his boss identifying him as an attacking midfielder, it means the chances of him playing deeper in midfield - where there are arguably more opportunities - will be limited.

Van de Beek has probably not yet done enough to convince him that he should be starting ahead of Fernandes or