Manchester United have one last chance to sell forgotten £35m man this summer

Donny van de Beek is enjoying some time with his expanding family before reporting back for duty this summer, with his return to Carrington currently pencilled in for late in the first week of July.

The 27-year-old and his partner, Estelle Bergkamp, daughter of former Arsenal forward Dennis, welcomed their second child just over four months ago and with a clear summer they have been taking a break.

Van de Beek presumably tuned in to see the Netherlands end their Euro 2024 group stage campaign against Austria on Tuesday but he could be forgiven if he has decided to skip the tournament. A few years ago it would have been implausible for the midfielder not to be a key part of that squad.

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The reality is that the £35m man hasn’t played for his country in more than three years and at a time when he should be at his peak, he is instead at a career crossroads and in danger of going down the wrong path.

A January loan move to Eintracht Frankfurt that included an option to buy for around £9.5m didn’t provide the kickstart required to get him back on track. Van de Beek started just four times in the Bundesliga and made only eight appearances, never lasting beyond 66 minutes. It was clear early on that he would be returning to Manchester this summer, rather than remaining in Frankfurt.

A knee injury picked up midway through Erik ten Hag’s first season ended any chance of Van de Beek establishing himself at Old Trafford under his former Ajax manager and the last time he completed 90 minutes came in March 2022, in a 1-0 defeat for Everton against Wolves. He hasn’t managed more