Van de Beek running out of time to save Man Utd career – Hughes

David Lynch

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Donny van de Beek is perilously close to a situation where his Manchester United career could be brought to a premature end this summer.

That is the view of former Red Devils striker Mark Hughes, who believes the Dutchman has looked incapable of influencing games during rare outings this season.

Signed from Ajax for £40m last August, Van de Beek has struggled to make any sort of impact at Old Trafford thus far.

Having failed to leapfrog Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Fred or Scott McTominay in the midfield pecking order, the 23-year-old has managed just three Premier League starts all season.

And he failed to make the most of his inclusion in the starting XI to face Leicester City in the FA Cup last weekend, playing just over an hour of an eventual 3-1 defeat for United.

Speaking after that game, Hughes shared his opinion that Van de Beek could be running out of time to turn things around at Old Trafford.

He told Stadium Astro: “Clearly, it’s difficult, he hasn’t had enough game time and you can see that in his play.

“He’s wandering around not really getting on the ball, doesn’t really know how to affect the game, can’t demand the ball off his teammates because they’re not really sure if they have enough confidence in him. He looks like a guy who’s wandering around lost on the field.

“Okay, some of that responsibility he has to take on himself, he has to be more demonstrative, he has to be a key player.

“He’s a big-money signing, he’s come from a big club in Ajax, so he’s used to being a top player and being a player of influence.

“But clearly since he’s come to United he hasn’t shown anything like the level he needs to be at to remain a Man United player.

“He can only have so many opportunities, at some point he’s going to have to take them or United are going to move him on. And I think they’re edging towards that decision if he’s not careful.”