Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been “blatantly lying” to Donny van de Beek, says Paul Ince, with the Manchester United outcast urged to make a move in January “for the good of his career”.
The Netherlands international midfielder completed a move to Old Trafford in the summer of 2020 despite the Red Devils already boasting plenty of options in his area of the field.
Game time for the 24-year-old has proved hard to come by, with Ince questioning why those calling the shots at United continue to tell a fringe player that he has a role to play.
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What has been said?
Former United star Ince told the Kelly and Wrighty Show of Van de Beek and his troubled time in England: “If I’m going to buy a player, a top player from Ajax, the first thing I’m going to say is, ‘Am I going to play? Where do you see me fitting in, within the system, within the team?’
“As a manager you have two choices – you can either tell the truth or not tell the truth. From what I’m seeing for the last year and a half, he’s not told Donny the truth, he hasn’t had any game time. He’s got £35 million sitting on the bench.
“I can hold my hands up if I’m on the bench and the team are winning and playing well. You can’t tell me that Fred and [Scott] McTominay are playing well week in and week out, and even [Paul] Pogba because they’re not.
“But he seems to play them all the time, and I’m sitting there watching them play, I would be livid.
“He’s been professional, he’s done everything by the book. Ole’s come out saying he’s in my plans, obviously he’s just blatantly lying, he has to move in January for the good of his career.”
How many appearances has Van de Beek made for Man Utd?
Van de Beek knew that he was going to face a battle for minutes when leaving Ajax for Old Trafford.
He is competing with Fred, McTominay, Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Bruno Fernandes and Juan Mata for a starting spot under Solskjaer.
United handed Van de Beek 36 appearances across all competitions last season, but only four of those were Premier League starts.
He has seen just five minutes of top-flight football in 2021-22 and was hauled off at half-time during his only Champions League outing of the current campaign – in a 2-1 defeat to Young Boys.
His last appearance came on September 22 in a Carabao Cup defeat to West Ham, with frustration starting to boil over for a man that has been heavily linked with the likes of Everton and Newcastle ahead of the January transfer window.