Van de Beek’s Frankfurt loan already becoming a nightmare

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 27 Jan 2024 08:29 GMT
• 2 min read

Donny van de Beek’s nightmare has not ended after leaving Manchester United, with the on-loan player left heavily criticised following his start to life at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Netherlands international star was linked with a move away from Old Trafford in the summer but turned down the opportunity to leave Man Utd at that point and instead moved on early in January.

Van de Beek, 26, moved to Frankfurt on loan, but despite starting three matches with the in-form Bundesliga side, he has failed to shine in his new surroundings.

He hit a new low on Friday as he was taken off at half-time in a 1-0 victory over Mainz following a lifeless first half.

Deployed as one of two No.10s for his new side, the former Ajax player failed to have any impact on the match whatsoever. He attempted only eight passes, including just three in the opposition half, of which just one was successful. During his time on the field, he touched the ball just 14 times and failed to have a shot or complete a key pass.

Unfortunately for Van de Beek, his home debut was a display that was very much on trend with what he has produced before for Frankfurt.

Starting against both RB Leipzig and Darmstadt, he lasted barely an hour before being taken off, with observers describing him as “anonymous and unrecognisable”. Football Critic rated his performance in those fixtures with marks of 5.5 and 5.9 respectively.

Man Utd’s latest Van de Beek blow

This is not good news for Man Utd, where Van de Beek remains under contract until 2025.

United had hoped that the midfielder would increase or at least protect his current transfer value by getting game time in Germany, but while he is far from a lost cause yet, it appears that he might instead only damage his reputation further.

Erik ten Hag’s side will be angling to sell Van de Beek in the summer, and after paying €39 million for him in 2020 had wanted to recoup as much of that figure as possible.

Van de Beek’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is presently, so Man Utd stand to make a substantial loss on the midfielder.