Man Utd outcast Van de Beek suffers humbling new low weeks after transfer exit

05 February 2024 , 19:03

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Donny van de Beek left Man Utd on loan last month

Despite only joining Eintracht Frankfurt from parent club Manchester United last month, Donny van de Beek has already been omitted from the German side's Europa Conference League squad.

The Netherlands international upped sticks to Frankfurt for the remainder of the campaign at the start of the January transfer window. It had been hoped that the loan switch would kickstart a flatlining career after more than three years of sitting on the bench for the Red Devils.

However, Van de Beek has hardly hit the ground running with the Bundesliga outfit. In just his third appearance for the club, he was hauled off at half-time before being left on the bench for the entirety of Saturday's 2-0 defeat by FC Koln.

Things have since gone from bad to worse for Van de Beek, who has been left out of Eintracht's 25-man squad for the Europa Conference League knockout rounds. UEFA's rules state that clubs can only make three changes to their team for the next stage of the competition.

Sasa Kalajdzic, Hugo Ekitike and Philipp Max - other January signings made by the club have been named instead of Van de Beek. Though it didn't cost much in terms of a loan fee to bring the Dutchman to the club, Eintracht are covering the bulk of his £125,000-a-week wages.

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Within his loan contract is an option to buy for a fee that would pocket United just shy of £12million, marking a steep loss considering they forked out £40m to sign him from Ajax back in 2020. In that time, he's managed to make less than 30 starts, meaning he will forever be viewed as one of the most underwhelming Red Devils signings of recent memory.

Speaking in December, Van de Beek was clearly champing at the bit to force through a United exit because of the lack of game-time on offer. His prolonged misery under Erik ten Hag came as a surprise to some, given it was the man that currently occupies the Old Trafford hot-seat that got the best out of the midfielder at Ajax.

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Donny van de Beek has had a difficult start to life in Eintracht Frankfurt

Discussing his United failings, Van de Beek explained: "I had hoped for more games when I was playing well, so you get into a flow. But you have to deal with more factors.

"Everyone wants to make United successful again, but they are not succeeding - and it's hard to put your finger on it. But I am bursting with energy now that I am fit again and I am really training like an animal. The time has come to make a different choice."

A different choice was made, but it has unfortunately produced the same outcome for Van de Beek.

Josh O'Brien