Manchester United refuse to let Donny van de Beek leave on a free | OneFootball

Manchester United are continuing to work on a “permanent exit” for Donny van de Beek but the midfielder’s contract situation is “putting off potential suitors”, according to a report.

The Dutchman has one year remaining on his deal and made only two appearances for Erik ten Hag’s side last season. He has not played a full ninety minutes since March 2022.

Van de Beek spent the second half of the year on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt, though failed to make a meaningful impression with his adopted side, and the Bundesliga club decided against exercising the £9.5 million buy-clause in the deal.

Consequently, the midfielder has now returned to Manchester and is expected to report for pre-season training on July 8, along with the rest of Ten Hag’s squad (aside from those still on international duty).

Van de Beek is said to be keen on a “fresh start” four years on from his £40 million move from Amsterdam to Manchester, with both the player’s representatives and the club’s executives working in tandem to try and facilitate a transfer.

However, with only twelve months left on his current contract, the midfielder would be able to negotiate with overseas clubs from January 1.

And, as the Manchester Evening News reveals, this situation is “putting off” these clubs from making any advances, as they would be able to land the 27-year-old for free in twelve months time.

The report contends Old Trafford officials are adamant they “won’t let him leave for free this summer”, nor will they sanction another loan move, as they want to “recoup some of the fee” paid to Ajax in 2020.

It appears, therefore, that both Van de Beek and United are caught between a rock and a hard place.

The player, nor the club, want him to remain at Old Trafford beyond the summer, but it makes no financial sense to release him or send him on loan, and there is little appetite for a permanent transfer from prospective clubs.

The most likely conclusion feels a hastily-agreed loan deal at the end of transfer window, as United accept a club agreeing to pay some of Van de Beek’s £6 million-a-year wage packet is better than the midfielder rotting on the sidelines on his full salary for a year.

And while there is a long list of contenders for the worst transfer at Old Trafford over the past decade, Van de Beek probably takes the crown for the most forgettable relative to their price-tag. At least the abominable Antony was memorably atrocious; Van de Beek has just quietly morphed into an expensive footnote.

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