
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Forgotten Man Utd man told time’s up as pundit claims he’s ‘not done anything’ and must go

Frank McAvennie has urged forgotten Manchester United man Donny van de Beek to leave the club, as he posed whether he would want to retire “having not done anything”.
Since joining United in 2020, Van de Beek has featured in just 60 games. What’s more, over half of those appearances came in his first campaign.
Since then, he’s been largely ignored. Last season, he featured eight times in the Premier League – scoring once – before being shipped out to Everton.
Other than one goal, he had little impact for the Toffees. He’s since returned to United, and has mainly warmed the bench; he’s played seven league games this season, all but two of which coming as a substitute, though he has been injured for a chunk of the campaign.
Following a transfer in the region of £35million to one of England’s biggest sides, he’d have expected a lot more.
He’s still under contract for another two seasons, so could be in line for more of the same. Indeed, it seems unlikely that he’d be able to displace Christian Eriksen or Casemiro in the midfield.
Beyond that pair, nor has he been above Scott McTominay or Fred in the pecking order.
Indeed, his career is stagnating, and he’s largely just sitting on the bench waiting for opportunities that are generally fairly limited.
Van de Beek told it’s time to go
As such, former footballer McAvennie thinks it’s time for him to leave United.
“I think he is a good player but he is not going to get a game with Casemiro in there,” he told Football Insider.
“When he is fit he is playing and [Bruno] Fernandes is going to be playing. The manager seems to like him.
“I think Van de Beek is way too good to be sitting on the bench.
“Do you want to retire with nobody knowing you and having not done anything? It is up to himself but if it was me I would want to play football.”
Indeed, Van de Beek won’t want to be wasting his career sitting on the bench. He’s losing valuable years of his career when he could be playing elsewhere.
That he didn’t have a massive impact away from United will not help his case, though he did only play seven games at Everton.
However, he was a very promising talent during his time at Ajax. There is clearly a very capable footballer in there, judging from his returns while in the Netherlands.
As such, there will be clubs that are willing to take a shot at him. He’s now 25, so even if it takes some time to get back up to speed, he could do so before he hits his prime years.
With recent reports suggesting he’ll be available for £25million, he could find himself a new home with ease.
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