- Donny van de Beek has only started 23 games for United since joining in 2020
- Erik ten Hag has not been able to help his former Ajax player break into the team
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Erik ten Hag has blamed injuries for ruining Donny van de Beek‘s spell at Manchester United and insisted his experience should not put off other players from signing for the club.
Van de Beek, 26, has joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan until the end of the season, having failed to establish himself under any of three different managers – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Ten Hag – at United since joining from Ajax in the summer of 2020.
The £35million midfielder made only 23 starts during his three and a half years at Old Trafford, and already spent time away on loan when he joined Everton for the second half of the 2021-22 campaign, again being limited by injuries at Goodison Park.
Ten Hag worked with Van de Beek at Ajax but hopes that a reunion in Manchester might revive the midfielder’s fortunes proved misplaced.
‘He has had many injuries, first of all,’ Ten Hag said. ‘From the first moment I came in here at Manchester United, he wasn’t the player he was at Ajax because he was injured. So many times he was not available and then he struggled for a long time to recover from that injury.
Erik ten Hag said that Donny van de Beek’s Manchester United career has been hampered by injuries
The Dutch manager and Van de Beek worked together at Ajax but the midfielder has only made 23 starts in three and a half years
‘That is probably the main reason why he was not playing. We decided for a loan in the summer but it didn’t come and then his opportunities are few because also we make appointments and we make agreements with players and contract players in that position. The competition was high.’
Van de Beek is among a number of players who have joined United in big-money deals in recent seasons but then struggled to live up to the billing, with £72million winger Jadon Sancho also close to leaving on loan in this transfer window after a public falling out with Ten Hag.
But asked if others might look at Van de Beek’s experience and be…