Man Utd staff speak behind Van de Beek's back and make ruthless comparison

Manchester United staff reportedly took to a less than flattering comparison when describing Donny van de Beek's struggles at the club under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Van de Beek has made 44 appearances for United since his move from Ajax for around £40million in the summer of 2020, although only a handful of those have been starts as he has been regularly forced to watch on from the sidelines.

The now former United boss Solskjaer usually preferred the more defensively-minded midfield pair of Fred and Scott McTominay in his Red Devils teams, with Nemanja Matic an able deputy for either one of those two and Paul Pogba also able to drop into a deeper position.

All of that has made Van de Beek's position at United increasingly uncertain, although he was handed a rare start by caretaker boss Michael Carrick in last week's Champions League clash with Villarreal, the first United match since Solskjaer was sacked.

The axe fell on the Norwegian after a 4-1 defeat to Watford at Vicarage Road, a match in which Van de Beek came on at half-time and scored, but while there have been green shoots of recovery in the Dutch midfielder's recent matches, it is clear what club staff think about him.

ESPN report that Solskjaer's staff compared Van de Beek's struggles to those of Henrikh Mkhitaryan at United, with the Armenian often overlooked by Jose Mourinho when he arrived at Old Trafford to much fanfare in the summer of 2016.

It was said that the former Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder struggled to adapt to the English game, and Mourinho felt that he couldn't rely on him to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League.

Mkhitaryan was eventually shipped off to Arsenal as part of the swap deal for Alexis Sanchez, before moving on to Serie A with Roma - where he is again under the tutelage of Mourinho.

It remains to be seen what new Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick makes of Van de Beek, and whether or not he puts him into his side.

The same ESPN report quotes the former Tottenham and Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart documenting the struggles that Van de Beek may well be facing in English football.

"I found the pace of the game was much quicker as you never had a break," Van der Vaart said in July.

"[In other leagues] you'd take your time over a throw-in, or free-kick, but in England, everyone expects you to continue, continue.

"That was the hardest thing, but though the game was quick, there was a lot of space to play in between the lines, and as a No. 10 that was great."