After Donny van de Beek’s performance against Young Boys (2-1 loss) this week, Paul Ince concludes that his career at Manchester United is over. The former midfielder, who played more than two hundred matches for the Red Devils, expects that Van de Beek will hardly get to play anymore and will leave in January.
Van de Beek had a chance in the starting lineup against Young Boys on Tuesday, but it ended in an unfortunate performance. Teammate Aaron Wan-Bissaka took a red card in the first half and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided to replace Van de Beek for Raphäel Varane at half time. The United manager emphasized that the substitution was tactical. “In the last five minutes of the first half, we got signals that they were going to play with high crosses,” said Solskjaer. “We knew that a big striker would come in and we had to react to that.” Young Boys indeed brought the 1.90m tall Jordan Siebatcheu onto the field and tipped the game in the second half.
Despite Solskjaer’s explanation, Ince believes it is over for Van de Beek at Manchester United. “Absolutely”, said the former international to The United Stand. “Solskjaer let him play to please him. It’s always hard when you don’t play to impress at the start, and then change him at half-time… what does that tell us, what does it tell the fans?”
“What does it say to Donny?” Ince continues, answering his question himself. “‘If I can’t play a full game against Young Boys, ten men or not ten men, then it’s time for me to go. There’s nothing Ole could say that would convince me that my future at Manchester United is I wanted it to be because it’s the biggest club in the world, but I have to go play somewhere.”
Ince believes that after Tuesday at least six players will be above Van de Beek in the pecking order at United. “Scott McTominay is now back from injury, Nemanja Matic, who I think is very good, is back, and he has Fred,” sums up the former midfielder. “He will never play without Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, and he still has Jesse Lingard to play in that role. The signs are there and I expect Van de Beek to be gone in January. Whether it’s a loan period or not, they won’t get back the money they paid for him.” Ajax received 39 million euros for the midfielder a year ago, an amount that could rise to 44 million euros.