Football
Real Madrid handed major boost in pursuit of Man Utd outcast
Real Madrid could be closing in on the capture of Donny van de Beek, with the Manchester United outcast reportedly keen on joining them in January.
According to a report from Defensa Central, Donny van de Beek is seemingly keen on sealing a January exit from Manchester United. The Dutch midfielder has talked to his agent about sanctioning a move to Real Madrid, who are apparently interested in his services, meaning the move could soon gather pace.
Donny van de Beek believes that his chances of making a breakthrough at the Santiago Bernabeu are significantly higher than his current role at Manchester United. He has, after all, endured a difficult time under the leadership of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, often getting frozen out of the Norwegian’s first-team plans.
Indeed, the Dutchman has failed to even muster 600 minutes of Premier League action since joining from Ajax last summer. He has struggled to compete with Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes while the recent addition of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo has further diminished his role in the Manchester United first-team setup.
As a result, van de Beek has featured in just one game in the Premier League while making a total of three appearances in all competitions. It has left the midfielder frustrated, even leading to his chewing gum incident in the Champions League encounter against Villarreal.
Nevertheless, the 24-year-old has had no shortage of potential suitors, with the player recently being offered to Real Madrid. The Dutchman himself believes that he has a real shot of breaking into the club’s midfield unit, especially with Casemiro and Toni Kroos heading towards the final phase of their respective careers while Luka Modric won’t be here to stick very long.
Los Blancos did rope in the talented Edouard Camavinga from Rennes in the summer. But the Frenchman is more of an all-round midfielder rather than an attacking midfielder. As such, he and van de Beek could actually form an excellent partnership in the middle of the park along with Federico Valverde, as Real Madrid look to build the core of their future group.
However, as mentioned earlier, the Spanish giants are not the only club pursuing van de Beek, who was even linked with a return to Ajax in the upcoming January transfer window. It won’t be a surprising move given the success of the Eredivisie giants under Erik ten Haag, and it remains to be seen what the future holds for the Manchester United outcast.