The mystery of Donny van de Beek, Manchester United’s player non grata

Donny van de Beek’s club career statistics: Ajax (2015-20), 41 goals, 34 assists, 175 appearances – 90 in central midfield, 68 attacking midfield, 14 defensive midfield, one wide left and two in the final moments. Manchester United (2020-), two goals, two assists, 50 appearances, 18 in central midfield, 14 attacking midfield, three defensive midfield, three wide left and 12 too short to matter.

This cliff-face fall-off in numbers between Van de Beek’s first and current clubs point to the mysterious case of a Dutch-schooled Netherlands first-choice with Champions League quarter- and semi-final goals on his CV who joined United and instantly became player non grata.

It is hard to comprehend what happened to leave the 24-year-old available as a winter window loanee; why, when United have failed to acquire an elite-level schemer since Michael Carrick signed in July 2006, Van de Beek has not had a concerted run to discover whether he might be good enough.

A misconception has developed that Van de Beek is solely a No 10, not an 8 or 6. The logic runs that having to compete with United’s incumbent trequartista and de facto leader, Bruno Fernandes, is the reason why his career has been mothballed. This myth is busted by the appearance stats above (the majority come in midfield), by how Fernandes is operating as an 8 in Ralf Rangnick’s 4-3-3 (if the Portuguese can, Van de Beek can) and by Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s appraisal of the player when signing him in September 2020.

“His ability to see space, time his movements and read the game will really complement the qualities that we have in midfield,” said United’s then manager. Quality of the highest echelon, though, is not associated with a department that, since Carrick’s pomp ended