Dutch legend Marco van Basten has branded the agent of former Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek as a “bad advisor” following his move to take the player to the Red Devils.
United signed Van de Beek in 2020 from Ajax in a deal worth up to £40million.
At the time, he was considered to be one of the best midfielders in Europe but he failed to live up to his billing at Old Trafford.
Van de Beek made just 62 appearances in four years, scoring two goals in the process. He struggled to break into the team under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag – a manager he worked with at Ajax and who brought out the best in him.
He played just 12 times under Ten Hag.
The Netherlands international had two loan spells at Everton (in the 2021/22 season) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2023/24) but both temporary spells failed to reignite his career.
Frankfurt had the option to make Van de Beek’s stay a permanent one for £9.5m but they elected not to take up this alternative.
Earlier in the summer, Van de Beek officially left United to join La Liga outfit Girona for an initial fee of just €500,000 (£423,000). The final fee could rise to €15 million (£12.7m) if various add-ons are met.
Speaking on Ziggo Sport’s latest episode of Rondo (via Metro) Van Basten remarked, “His manager was a bad advisor in that [transfer to United]. That step was much too big.”
“As an agent, you have to be able to decide – I’m sending him to that club, because that’s where he’s going to play.”
“He went to two clubs and didn’t play a match.”
Van de Beek has so far made one substitute appearance for Girona. He registered an assist on this occasion, which was a 4-0 win at home over Osasuna.
Van Basten, who won the Ballon d’Or three times added, “This was really a typical Van de Beek pass.”
Frank de Boer, who was on the show alongside Van Basten further stated, “It’s actually crazy, idiotic and strange that such a player has barely played football for two years. Sometimes you have to join a club that suits you.”
“At Manchester United, I saw him pick up balls on the left wing. I say… ‘you shouldn’t be doing that, you have to go for that goal.’”
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