3 Manchester United players who need to step up in Pogba’s absence
Donny van de Beek
Signed from Ajax for an initial transfer fee of around £35 million in the last summer transfer window, Donny van de Beek is yet to make his mark at Manchester.
A Champions League-proven player, Van de Beek, however, hasn’t been given a steady run of game-time by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season.
Despite playing 1,053 minutes of football, mostly as a substitute, the Dutchman hasn’t found the form he enjoyed in his Ajax days. And we can’t totally blame Solskjaer for Van de Beek’s lack of playing time.
Solskjaer perceives both Bruno Fernandes and Donny van de Beek as the players suited to the “10” position And unfortunately for the Dutchman, it has been an impossible task to dethrone Fernandes, who has been excellent since joining Manchester United in early 2020.
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Nevertheless, with Paul Pogba now set to remain sidelined for what it seems to be a lengthy period, Van de Beek should be given more chances to showcase his talents. As far as we have seen, he is a canny mover off the ball and usually tries to complete one-touch, simple passes with his peers.
Is he a risk-taker like Fernandes? We are yet to find the answer. Van de Beek mostly dictates the play, manoeuvres his opposition, passes it to another passer, runs into the box, and waits for a delivery to come into his path.
As shown by his stats for Ajax, Van de Beek loves scoring goals, something he hasn’t been able to do in his short-spell at Manchester United. Let’s just hope he can find his scoring boots over the next few weeks.