By Habeeb Kuranga
Manchester United Midfielder, Donny Van de Beek was left in tears after he suffered a gruesome injury in his side’s win over Bournemouth at the Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The Dutch International was at the receiving end of an unfortunate collision with Cherries defender, Marcos Senesi, which left him in agony and required medical attention who spent up to seven minutes on the pitch attending to him.
The 25-year-old had already suffered an injury this season and was given a rare start by United boss, Erik ten Hag, but his bad luck continued after he was hauled off just before half time and was seen in tears as he made his way to the dressing room. He was replaced by Alejandro Garnacho who provided the assist for United’s second goal of the night for Luke Shaw, after Casemiro had put the Reds Devils in front in the first half. Moments later, United’s highest goalscorer, Marcus Rashford put the icing on the cake in a 3-0 win.
Sometime in November, Erik ten Hag was praising the young Dutchman about his positional display. “I’ve seen him better in the past. But I think positioning-wise, he’s acting quite well. “But he has to make that step up. I don’t think a loan [makes] sense. It’s either he fights [for] himself and proves himself, in this atmosphere in this environment, or he goes.
“But for me, there is still a way for him, there is still a perspective for him. It’s not going to be easy because the competition there is really strong.” He said.
Donny is yet to complete a 90-minutes of football this term. Infact, he has made 10 appearances across all competition this season, most of which were substitute appearances. He is also yet to score or assist in any of those games.
Van de Beek was signed from Ajax in 2020 for €39million. But he is yet to show the kind of displays he was known for during his days at Amsterdam. He has been a shadow of his former self ever-since he made the move to the Theater of Dreams. He spent the second half of last seaaon on loan at Everton but still didn’t make much impact for the Toffees as they were almost relegated to the Championship.
Van De Beek was an influential figure for the Ajax Amsterdam team that reached the semifinal of the UEFA Champions League in 2018/19 season.
