Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek’s agent Guido Albers has confirmed that he held talks with Everton about a move to Goodison Park during the summer transfer window, only for the Mancunian club to block the move on the deadline day.
Donny van de Beek, 24, arrived at Manchester United in a £39m deal from Ajax last summer but struggled for game time, managing only four Premier League starts throughout the 2020/21 season. In all, he played 32 times, with the midfielder scoring a goal and assisting twice.
The Netherlands international has seemingly become a forgotten man within Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ranks, yet to feature for the Red Devils this season. In fact, despite Manchester United trailing until the 55th minute against Southampton, and heading towards a draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers, with just 10 minutes left to play, Solskjaer overlooked Van de Beek when many believed that an injection of creativity, or even energy, in midfield was necessary.
Donny van de Beek to Everton—Should the Toffees push for a move?
Everton had a decent summer transfer window, signing five players of which two were goalkeepers—Asmir Begovic and Andy Lonergan—arriving on free transfers from Bournemouth and West Brom respectively. Andros Townsend and Salomon Rondon have also been snapped up as free agents, while the £1.7m spent on bringing in Demarai Gray from Bayer Leverkusen already looks a snip following his flying start to the Premier League season.
However, one area Rafael Benitez failed to address in the recent transfer window is the midfield. Beyond Allan, Andre Gomes and Abdoulaye Doucoure, the Merseysiders lack depth in the midfield unit to cope with the entire season.
Fabian Delph is growing increasingly injury-prone with the shoulder injury sustained that forced him to miss Everton’s 2-0 victory over Brighton being the eighth time he’ll spend time on the sidelines after moving to Goodison Park from Manchester City. Jean-Philippe Gbamin played his first competitive game in the Toffees’ 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield Town after spending more than two years on the sidelines.
Considering Everton’s glaring problems in central midfield, it won’t be a bad idea for the manager to take a dip in the transfer market in January. To that end, the Royal Blues reigniting interest in Donny van de Beek would make sense.
A central midfielder by trade, Van de Beek’s incredible versatility allows him to play in a variety of positions—as a no.10, on either flank, as a no.8 or a deep-lying playmaker. The Dutchman’s remarkable technique, passing, vision and ball control make him such an exciting player. One of his main attributes is his ability to exploit space behind the backline but he is perhaps most dangerous when making those late dashes into the box in the mould of someone like Frank Lampard.
The former Ajax star has solid European experience and would add a winning mentality to the Everton squad if a move materialises. Everton must make another attempt to sign Donny van de Beek, who could get regular game time under Rafael Benitez to showcase his talent and prove himself in the Premier League.