Manchester United’s midfielder Donny Van de Beek has given the club a major injury boost by revealing that he is close to making a comeback to football after being out of action for much of the season due to a knee injury.
The Dutchman has played only seven times this season and his future at Old Trafford remains uncertain after three seasons of being left among the substitutes and reserves under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Van de Beek rose to prominence under Erik ten Hag at Ajax, prompting Manchester United to splash out £40m on the then 23-year-old.
There was hope that he could rediscover his form under their former boss during their time together at Old Trafford, but that has not yet happened.
Nonetheless, Van de Beek is on the road to recovery ahead of next season.
In a recent interview with MUTV, Van de Beek said, “I’m busy with my recovery after my injury and everything is going well. It’s hard to give you a time, but we have to see how everything goes. I’m doing a lot of gym work and getting closer to being on the pitch, which is positive. I’m not far away.”
Midfield is a position that Manchester United is keen to strengthen in the upcoming months, despite having signed Casemiro last summer. Christian Eriksen is still going strong, but he is well into his 30s, and Marcel Sabitzer is only on loan from Bayern Munich, although it could become permanent this summer.
Neither Scott McTominay nor Fred seems to feature heavily in Ten Hag’s plans, which could see Van de Beek feature more in the Dutchman’s plans in the coming season.