La Liga side Sevilla are reportedly preparing to move for Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek during the January transfer window.
La Liga underperformers Sevilla are reportedly interested in signing Manchester United flop Donny van de Beek for the second half of the season, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes.
The former Ajax man first burst onto the scene in Amsterdam, where he impressed with 75 goal contributions from 175 competitive appearances and reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2019 before earning a €40 million move to the Theatre of Dreams in the summer of 2020, which now looks like terrible value for money, and worse by the week.
The 25-year-old is in his third season with Manchester United, although he has yet to establish himself at Old Trafford. After failing to make his mark during his first season at the club, he spent six months on loan at Everton last season, starting five Premier League games.
Everyone anticipated a lifeline of some kind when Erik ten Hag was named as the new manager in the summer. Despite these encouraging signals, the midfielder remains inexplicably out of favour, and his struggle to find his feet at United continues.
This season, he has only played a grand total of just 153 minutes so far and has somehow still managed to come under scrutiny from the United fanbase for his anonymous displays. He failed to capitalise on his rare Premier League start in United’s 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, while he struggled to impress against Real Sociedad in the Europa League prior to that.
Erik ten Hag knows all about Van de Beek, having managed him during his time in charge at Ajax, where the 19-capped Holland international was the heartbeat of the famous side. However, his drastic decline and lack of confidence have surprised the Dutch head coach.
And while Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has backed Van de Beek to come good, the Dutch star will be looking for a turnaround in the coming weeks. Should the current situation persist, a mid-season exit appears a genuine possibility, even if it’s a temporary move to start with.
Despite his lack of minutes, his stock has seemingly remained intact, with Inter Milan and Leicester City among the teams reported to be keeping a close eye on his situation at Old Trafford.
Per Fichajes, there is also genuine interest from Sevilla, with the Spanish outfit’s head coach Jorge Sampaoli asking the board to sign two or three players in January to revive the club’s fortunes after a torrid start to the season.
Renowned to improve players and implement a high-intensity, fast-paced style of football, the Argentine head coach transformed the career of Matteo Guendouzi at Marseille in his previous managerial stint. The former Arsenal flop improved leaps and bounds under his watch, playing both as a holding player and almost as a second striker at times.
That kind of role will suit Van de Beek perfectly. He is more than adept at moving the ball quickly, while his positional and spatial intelligence see him pick up a lot of promising positions and make effective runs into box. It remains to be seen whether he can reclaim his greatest form, either with the Red Devils or elsewhere.
