Donny van de Beek has had a tough first season at Manchester United and he will now miss EURO 2020 due to injury.
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He cannot catch a break.
Van de Beek, 24, has struggled for minutes since joining United from Ajax last summer for $56 million and after being selected for the Netherlands’ EURO 2020 squad, he will now not get the playing time he craved.
A statement from the Oranje was released just a few days before the tournament started, as they explained that VDB will not be available from Frank de Boer’s side.
“Donny van de Beek has to let the European championship pass by. The Manchester United midfielder is struggling with an injury.”
No further details were disclosed about his injury, although reports suggest it is a groin problem.
Good or bad news for Van de Beek?
There are two ways you can look at this.
On one hand, van de Beek will be fresh and raring to go when United begin preseason training in July. He featured just 34 times in 2020-21, mostly off the bench, so he doesn’t exactly need a rest.
On the other, he could’ve really done with boosting his confidence by being a key part of the Netherlands team and maybe putting himself in the shop window for a loan or permanent move away.
The latter seems highly-likely given his lack of appearances last season, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to use him in big games and his skills as a ball player never seemed like fitting in to this direct, counterattacking style that United play under Solskjaer.
From the start it was a bad transfer for all involved, but somehow it happened. That says more about Ajax’s financial situation and United’s recruitment model than VDB.
Whatever the future holds for VDB, this is another slice of bad luck for a very talented player and even if he doesn’t flourish at United, he’s too good to not kick on elsewhere next season and reignite his career.
