Donny van de Beek welcomes Erik ten Hag’s Man Utd arrival as outcast midfielder eyes Old Trafford revival under old boss
DONNY VAN DE BEEK has given a crafty hint he’ll welcome Erik ten Hag’s arrival at Manchester United.
The midfielder aims to rediscover the form he showed under Ten Hag at Ajax when his fellow Dutchman takes over at Old Trafford this summer.
And VDB responded approvingly to a message from the manager on the Dutch giants’ Instagram account.
Eredivisie leaders Ajax quoted Ten Hag as saying: “I want to finish my time here on a positive note, by winning the league.”
Van de Beek ‘liked’ the message – just as much as he might United’s choice of the 52-year-old to become manager.
The Holland star, 25, is struggling on loan at Everton, having also had a bit-part role at United since joining them from Ajax in August 2020.
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So his main hope of proving he can impose himself on the Premier League would seem to be his past record with Ten Hag.
The ex-Bayern Munich reserves boss has agreed a three-year contract at Old Trafford.
He’ll replace interim chief Ralf Rangnick as a permanent successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was sacked last November.
United were so keen to tie up Ten Hag they paid up around £1.7million on his Ajax deal.
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And he reportedly rates Van de Beek as one of the Old Trafford under-achievers he can transform.
VDB spent the last three of his five years at Ajax under Ten Hag.
His stylish technical skills then earned him a £35milion switch to United.
But despite scoring on his debut, he’s never truly looked comfortable in English football.
That’s partly because United didn’t seem to know how to use him.
But his confidence has appeared low.
And a lack of physical presence means he’s only shown glimmers of his ability rather than sustained quality.