Donny van de Beek’s agent, Guido Albers, has said that Cristiano Ronaldo’s re-signing for Manchester United is bad news for the Dutchman and revealed that talks had begun for a move to Everton before the transfer window closed.
Albers did also explain that the proposed move to Goodison Park for Van de Beek was taken off the table because Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to keep hold of him and has promised a more significant role in the first team this season.
Van de Beek arrived in the summer of 2020 in a deal worth an initial £35m from Ajax, but made almost no impression in his first season at Old Trafford, scoring just one goal and finding starts very hard to come by.
Ronaldo’s arrival makes it all the more difficult for Van de Beek to get into the starting XI and Albers admits he was not too pleased to see the Portuguese arrive back in Manchester, so much so that he was pursuing a move to Everton.
‘Cristiano arrived on Friday which we knew was bad news for us. Pogba plays on the left, and with Cristiano’s arrival it means another extra player in midfield, with Pogba moving away from the left,’ Albers told Ziggo Sport, via the Mirror.
‘We had conversations with Solskjær and the board. We took the initiative to find a club and our search ended up at Everton. We opened talks with Marcel Brands and Farhad Moshiri.
‘On Monday night [before deadline day] we received a call from Solskjær and the club who told us that a transfer was out of question and that he had to report himself to training the next morning.’
Albers says that Solskjaer has assured his client that he will be playing more regularly in the Premier League this season after starting just four league matches last season.
The 24-year-old has been on the substitutes’ bench for all three Premier League matches so far this season and is yet to make an appearance.
‘The perspective now is that we stated that Donny is not a Carabao Cup player, or FA Cup player, or to play only in European games. Donny went to England to play in the Premier League,’ said the agent.
‘The way the conversation went this time [with Solskjær] compared to last summer… things are much more clear now. I have full expectations that Donny will get his chance now.
‘Donny worked extremely hard in the summer. He only had seven days off. The rest of the summer he trained to become top fit. He is totally ready.’
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