Benitez was considerably less keen on Everton signing Donny van de Beek
Rafa Benitez was considerably less keen on bringing Donny van de Beek to Everton in the summer, according to The Athletic.
The Manchester United midfielder was looking to leave Old Trafford having struggled for playing minutes last term, and Marcel Brands was alerted to the potential availability of the Netherlands international through an intermediary.
However, the Red Devils blocked him from leaving on loan for Goodison Park during the last days of the transfer window.
Brands was clearly keen on having van de Beek and has not ruled out another move in the January window [Sky Sports], but it appears Benitez has other ideas.
Clash of ideas?
The Everton chief makes some of the calls when it comes to transfers at Goodison Park, and he wanted to land the former Ajax star if he had his way.
However, that was not possible after Man Utd held on to him, and Benitez would have been glad.
The Spaniard made most of the summer transfer decisions, with the arrivals of Andros Townsend and Salmon Rondon coming through the Everton manager.
He also asked the recruitment team to do due diligence on Demarai Gray before he was signed, and the former Leicester City and Crystal Palace stars have proven to be quite the additions.
Brands and Benitez have different ideas about football given their backgrounds, and it will be interesting to see what happens in January regarding Van de Beek.
The Dutchman is likely to leave Man Utd temporarily, but whether the Toffees boss would be interested in having him by then remains to be seen.
Despite his quality, Everton are not in dire need of a midfielder, and Rafa definitely is not a huge fan of his.
In other Everton news, Toffees ace has said he’s coming back after injury issues.
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