When Manchester United signed Donny van de Beek from Ajax last summer, hopes were high that he could prove to be the long-term replacement for Paul Pogba in the team.
The Frenchman has been linked with an exit for quite some time now and although he has been brilliant this season, he is yet to sign a contract extension. Thus, there is still a good chance that he could end up leaving the club in the summer, when he has only a year left on his current deal.
Unfortunately, for Van de Beek, things have not gone as he would have expected when he joined the club. He has spent the majority of the season sitting on the bench and making cameos. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has scored once and assisted twice in his 32 appearances this season across all competitions, which have combined for just 1181 minutes of football.
As a result, he is already being linked with an Old Trafford exit. As reported by La Repubblica on Thursday and as relayed by Roma News (via Sport Witness), Manchester United proposed an exchange involving Van de Beek and Nicolo Zaniolo although it has been rejected.
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Manchester United linked with Zaniolo again
The Red Devils have been linked with Zaniolo for quite some time and it is not hard to see why. The 21-year-old is one of the most highly-rated talents in Italian football today.
But he has suffered a couple of big injuries in recent years, which have kept him on the sidelines, and Zaniolo has not even made a single appearance this season.
There is no question about his talent though and one would hope that when he is back on the pitch, he can rediscover his best form and remain injury free for the foreseeable future.
Will he end up at Old Trafford one day? That remains to be seen.