Opinion: Manchester United will break Donny van de Beek's spirit - they should sell him or play him

Manchester United’s failure to use Donny van de Beek is a waste of the Dutchman’s career and if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not going to use him, then someone else should get the chance.

When United started with Fred and Nemanja Matic against Southampton, it should really have been a warning sign. Solskjaer has been given the chance to build a team that can grow into a more sophisticated attacking side, and when they could have continued the momentum from their opening day win against Leeds, they instead retreated.

Neither Fred nor Matic are dreadful players, but what they do is limited. They might be able to recycle the ball fairly assiduously, but the times they create something out of nothing, move the ball quickly, or launch a counterattack are notable for how little they occur. Neither the Brazilian nor the Serbian is an incisive player. While Van de Beek has hardly set pulses racing at Old Trafford in the past year, he should at least be given as much chance as his peers.

What is odd is that the Dutchman appeared to have done enough at Ajax to justify a move to Real Madrid, which would have taken place were it not for the damage done to the Spanish club’s finances as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. He is clearly no clown, and his appearances for the Netherlands have shown him to be a player who has the measure of Matic, Fred and Scott McTominay. He probably cannot rival Paul Pogba when he is at his best, but there are very few players who can.

He seemed to have taken his lack of opportunities last year as an opportunity to improve, and as a result seems to have been on the whey protein over the summer to add muscle, which should assuage any concerns that he is too lightweight to cope with the Premier League. As an aside, there are now plenty of slight players who excel in England, but adding power is not going to hurt his chances - but that assumes he actually has a chance to take.

Solskjaer is not afraid to be bloody-minded when it comes to his own interests. He has stuck with players on the pitch when others would have lost faith, and he has occasionally demonstrated a less than pleasant side when he deems it necessary. It seems that Van de Beek is a victim of this approach.

There were suggestions last year that the Norwegian decided to ignore Van de Beek as a snub to Ed Woodward for failing to provide the players he wanted. He got a central defender, an ageing striker and a reserve left back, having asked for a central defender and a right winger. For all Van de Beek’s talents, he was not what was requested and was therefore snubbed. How much truth is in said suggestion is difficult to gauge.

But, Van de Beek is clearly better than each of Fred, McTominay and Matic, and he has the potential to outstrip some of the best midfielders in Europe. Real Madrid could see it, as could Spurs last summer. There are other teams who would be happy to take him on, if only United would let him go.

Instead, he is left to rot, to grow frustrated and have his confidence broken. When or if he ever moves on, if he doesn’t get time on the pitch soon, then pointless, gratuitous damage will have been done to his career with no solid justification. For United’s sake and the player’s, they must either use him or send him somewhere that wants to. The manager ludicrously suggested tiredness might be at play after two games this season - perhaps he could use a player who has been prevented from breaking a sweat for the last year.