Manchester United looking at potential Donny van de Beek replacement

Manchester United signed Donny van de Beek from Ajax last summer in the hope of increasing the competition within the team’s creative department.

United paid an initial transfer fee believed to be around £35.7 million to sign the Dutchman. But with more than half of the 2020-21 season gone, Van de Beek has failed to make his mark at Old Trafford till now.

Since moving to Manchester, Van de Beek has made 28 appearances in all competitions, with only 319 minutes of Premier League football, scoring and assisting once each according to stats from Transfermarkt.

As a result, the club could already be looking at a replacement for the Dutch midfielder, in case he ends up leaving the club in the summer.

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Donny van de Beek might leave Manchester United in the summer

Considering the difficulty Van de Beek has had with finding his feet at Old Trafford, he might be looking to leave in the upcoming summer transfer window. And a number of clubs around Europe, including Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, have been linked with him over the past few months.

As reported by Il Messaggero (via Express), the Red Devils might look towards AS Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo as a potential replacement for Van de Beek, in case he does end up leaving in the summer.

Once considered as one of the biggest talents in Italian football, a couple of serious injuries have seen Zaniolo spend a long time recovering on the sidelines.

In fact, he is yet to make a single appearance this season due to a cruciate ligament injury which has kept him out for the entirety of the campaign. As a result, once rated at £70 million, he could now be available at around £25.5 million due to his fitness issues in recent seasons.

While the talent has never been in question with Zaniolo, the Red Devils should wait until he makes a return to the pitch before making a transfer decision.