Donny van de Beek looked for a transfer away from Manchester United after Paul Pogba continued to play ahead of him, claims his former agent.
The Dutch midfielder moved to Old Trafford from Ajax in summer 2020 in a deal which could reach £40million, but has never cemented a first-team spot and looks on the fringes of the side.
And his representative Guido Albers told Voetbal Primeur that Van de Beek became frustrated after Pogba – now at Juventus – turned up late to training but remained ahead of his client in the pecking order.
Donny van de Beek sought a transfer away from Man United after Paul Pogba continued to play ahead of him under former Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left), claims his former agent
Pogba (centre) was preferred to the Dutch midfielder despite ‘turning up late for training’
He said: ‘I saw the disappointment about the way he was treated by Manchester United, and he saw up close what I did to turn the situation around. But from the day he was not allowed to leave Manchester United again, it was final.
‘In the Netherlands, Donny got all the appreciation, performed well and was super popular with the fans. At Manchester United he then never played. The relationship between him and the club really cooled down badly.
‘He had to compete against Paul Pogba, who reported late to the training camp, said sorry and was allowed to play again – in the place of a boy who was training 10 hours a day for eight weeks to show he was good enough.
The 19-cap international, who will be hoping for regular game time to stake his claim for a place in Holland’s World Cup squad, has only played 19 minutes of football so far this season
‘I then had that disappointment thrown at me. I underestimated what not playing anymore did to him mentally. I should have looked earlier: how can I help him?’
Although the 25-year-old made 19 appearances in all competitions in his first season, 36 in all competitions, he was generally used as a bench option, and was farmed out to relegation-battling Everton on loan in January after often being overlooked again.
The 19-cap international, who will be hoping for regular game time to stake his claim for a place in Louis van Gaal’s World Cup squad, has only played 19 minutes of football so far this campaign.