View: Everton receive final nail in coffin for Donny van de Beek
Everton look to have lost the battle to keep Manchester United midfielder, Donny van de Beek, at the club after his loan deal expires at the end of the season.
There was some hope they would keep the disgracefully out of favour Old Trafford man at the club on Merseyside after his nightmare spell with the Red Devils.
The Dutchman seemed to have had enough of wasting away on the bench but with Erik ten Hag now likely to take the reign at his parent club he is likely to return according to Fabrizio Romano.
To make matters worse, the 25-year-old has reportedly been rebuilding his relationships with some of his former United teammates as they anticipate the Ajax manager coming to Manchester for next season.
A United source told Mirror: “The players have been asking Donny about Ten Hag because he’s played under him before. He told them his training sessions are on a different level to what they’ve been used to and they’ll have to run like they’ve never run before.
“Donny told them he’s really intense, a perfectionist, who does one-on-one training himself with the players. He controls every aspect of his players, including their diets. The basic message was he’s not one to cross – it sounds like one strike and you’re out.”
Disappointing
There was a real feeling around the club that if van de Beek’s loan spell at Everton went well, they would have a real chance of keeping him and that would have been a huge steal.
He is a Champions League level player having been instrumental in Ajax’s journey to the 2019 semi-final where they should have reached the final, narrowingly missing out to Tottenham.
Frank Lampard will be gutted he can’t keep hold of the former Ajax star. The boss likes to play possession-based football and is very reliant on midfielders with a lot of quality to do so.
He will now have to seek a replacement in the summer transfer window and signing a player with the skill of van de Beek is no certainty.
He has also already established himself within this Blues squad which makes it a now risky move but the Lampard will now have to take a gamble with another player.
Considering the Toffees’ past transfer failures, this is terrible news.
In other Everton news, the Blues are to axe several senior players in summer for “hungrier” alternatives according to Chris Beesley.
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