Solskjaer responds as Neville puzzled by £35m Man Utd ‘mystery’

Matt Stead

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sought to address the immediate future of Donny van de Beek after Gary Neville questioned the £35m Manchester United “mystery”.

Van De Beek is yet to start a game for Manchester United outside of the League Cup despite joining Ajax for such a considerable figure in the summer.

The Dutchman has played 61 Premier and Champions League minutes across five substitute appearances, failing to even be brought off the bench in a drab draw with Chelsea on Saturday.


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His purchase does look incredibly pointless at this stage, with former Manchester United stars Neville and Evra both unable to explain the situation.

“What is a little bit of a mystery is the use of Van de Beek since he’s been signed for £40 million,” Neville told Sky Sports.

“He doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans in every game. It’s a bit of a mystery that one. And the more he doesn’t start, and the more he doesn’t come on, the more you’re thinking, ‘Well £40m player, ordinarily you’d get him in the team’.

“He must be thinking: ‘What am I doing here?’ at this moment in time.”

Evra was a little less forgiving in his assessment, asking: “Nothing against the kid, but why have we bought him? He’s watching the game from the stand every game.

“We don’t need him, that’s the truth.”

Solskjaer addressed the matter somewhat after the match, saying: “He’ll get his games, don’t worry about that. It’s easy to say who should be playing and more difficult to say who shouldn’t.”

It has been claimed that Manchester United have put Van de Beek on a rigorous strength programme to bring his physicality levels up to Premier League standard. Should still probably give him more than a couple of minutes, mind.