Donny van de Beek attracting other clubs which could see Manchester United miss out – reports

Manchester United could miss out on signing Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek as Newcastle United have an interest in signing the player, according to reports. The 23-year-old has been on United’s radar for the last year after making a name for himself after his performances in the UEFA Champions League last season with Ajax reaching the semi-finals.

Reports coming out of France via Le10Sport report that the Magpies are interested in signing the player with their takeover deal close to completion and the club seeking to become one of the big clubs in the Premier League with a massive cash injection to increase the quality of players at the club.

The 23-year-old is valued at around £44 million, according to the reports, which is a good fee for a player with his ability and career ahead of him. If Newcastle’s takeover is completed they could be bankrolled by Saudi-backers with them becoming the richest club in the Premier League, based on the money available to the clubs owners.

Newcastle have also been linked to another player who has previously been linked to United – Kalidou Koulibaly. Napoli would want upwards of £90 million for the central defender this summer, something United could afford but the money would be better spent in attacking options with United possibly seeking a cheaper alternative in defence.

It is even suggested that Newcastle could be seeking former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino or even a return to the club for Rafael Benitez as the clubs manager, replacing Steve Bruce. Van de Beek is a player that many United supporters wanted the club to sign last summer, but he decided to stay put at Ajax.

At the time, Paul Pogba had told the media that he wanted another challenge, seemingly wanting to leave United and speculation was rife. However, the Frenchman did not leave the club which negated United seeking to sign another midfielder – although with the injuries to the midfield this season, it may have been a good but for United.

This season, which seems to have ended for the Erdivisie club, Van de Beek has made a total of 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and assisting a further 11 – playing a total of 3,171 minutes of football. Ajax could have won their 35th Eredivisie title this season, instead, no club will be awarded the title in the Netherlands.

United will have many other options if the 23-year-old signs for another club this summer, not that he has been linked to the club for a while, but could be a contender should Pogba leave for pastures new. United have been hotly linked to Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, Aston Villa attacking midfielder Jack Grealish. Van de Beek’s agent has spoken about interest, saying:

“The interest has been – and that is also known – for a long time and from several clubs.

“We will see what will come out of that in the coming weeks. I dare not say anything about it at the moment. I can’t say anything about it because a number of things are just confidential.

“The situation will have changed for each club and we have to look closely at that.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will likely have other midfield targets if he needs to make a move but new addition Bruno Fernandes, who signed for the club in January has done well so far and seems to be solving United’s lack of creativity, scoring three goals and four assists in his nine appearances so far. This could be a big summer for United, and every other club.

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.