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Donny Van de Beek Departs; Dutch Legends Gets Assistant Job!

By on July 22, 2024

Donny van de Beek has confirmed his Manchester United exit ahead of his move to Spanish side Girona.

The Netherlands international arrived at Old Trafford from Ajax in the summer of 2020, with United fending off interest from Real Madrid to sign the midfielder. The fans with Manchester United tickets were overwhelmed to see the youngster and expected him to grow to be one of the regulars.

But after four thoroughly underwhelming seasons, the 27-year-old will head to Spain for a fresh start with Girona – with United set to make a significant loss on the player.

United signed van de Beek for £34.7m with £ 4.4 m in add-ons. His move to Girona will set the La Liga side back a modest £500,000.

Van de Beek confirmed his departure with an emotional Instagram message, thanking his supporters for their ‘unforgettable’ experience.

‘Dear Manchester United family,’ he wrote. ‘Today is a memorable day as my adventure at the club ends.

‘I want to thank you all for your support throughout the years. From the moment we arrived at Manchester United, we felt incredibly welcome and are grateful.

‘Thank you to everyone at the club for making us feel at home. A special thanks to all the fans that made these years unforgettable.

‘Besides the football, the birth of our two children here ensures that Manchester always has a special place in our hearts. Good luck to everybody, we’ll meet again.’

Van de Beek was signed under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign but started just four league matches in the Norwegian’s first season in England.

The Dutchman failed to start in the Premier League in his second season. Following Solskjaer’s exit, he was loaned out to Everton for the second half of the season.

Earlier, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Van de Beek had few opportunities despite gaining traction as a protege on social media for those who buy Manchester United tickets.

The appointment of Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford offered fresh hope. Van de Beek was an essential figure under ten, Hag, on the Ajax side, and he reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2019, but his fortunes at United did not improve.

United Get New Assistant 

Manchester United’s backroom team underwent a Dutch overhaul this summer, but it was different from the one most people with Manchester United tickets expected. 

With Erik ten Hag signing a one-year contract extension after months of speculation surrounding his future, a surprising former Red Devils star has been making the headlines.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been all but announced as a new Man Utd assistant coach. The retired striker was spotted being driven into the club’s Carrington training center for the day and was later photographed heading into a Manchester hotel.

Van Nistelrooy is rumored to have turned down Burnley’s offer to replace Vincent Kompany in favor of returning to his old stomping ground, Old Trafford. 

But what can Erik Ten Hag, his players, and Man United fans expect from their former star striker in his new role as assistant coach?

The 48-year-old’s playing career took him from Den Bosch, Heerenveen and PSV in the Netherlands to Manchester United, Real Madrid, Hamburg and Malaga.

As a coach, Van Nistelrooy has established a similar strong CV. He worked his way up the PSV youth teams and was an assistant for Guus Hiddink with the Dutch national team for two years after the 2014 World Cup and for Ronald Koeman at EURO 2020.

In 2021, he made his first foray as a head coach with Jong PSV, Eindhoven’s reserve team in the Dutch second division.

Things didn’t go entirely as planned, as Jong PSV recorded just 11 wins, 11 draws, and 16 losses. Despite that, he was appointed PSV’s head coach on a three-year contract.

But Van Nistelrooy’s time with PSV ended after just one successful season. He resigned last May, citing a lack of support within the club.

That was despite winning the Dutch Cup and Dutch Super Cup and guiding PSV to second place in the league, 10 points behind Arne Slot’s then-Feyenoord side.

Fans of Manchester United tickets will be happy to know that Van Nistelrooy has experience beating Slot, too. When the pair faced off in the league in 2022, Van Nistelrooy’s PSV came out on top in a 4-3 thriller before drawing the away fixture 2-2.

Van Nistelrooy’s side also beat Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal 2-0 in the Europa League group stage that season. He called Arteta a ‘top manager’ and ‘class act’.

But for all his coaching talents, it was during his five playing seasons at United that the Dutchman truly made a name for himself, scoring a staggering 150 goals in only 219 games between 2001 and 06.

He scored 36 goals alone in his first season, which he eclipsed the following season with 44.

With United’s attack sometimes leaving much to be desired and star Marcus Rashford struggling for form last season, might the return of Van Nistelrooy spur Ten Hag’s talented but somewhat raw forwards up the goal charts?

United fans may remember that after the Dutchman’s last opportunity in Manchester to help the club’s young players, he had a falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson that sparked his ultimate departure from the club.

The striker swore at Ferguson after being an unused substitute when United won the 2006 League Cup final. Ferguson wanted to leave younger players, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, to give them a taste of glory. Van Nistelrooy was soon sold to Real Madrid but looked back on the incident with regret.

‘It was just really disrespectful… It wasn’t all that outrageous regarding words, but it was completely out of order. Not done. I wasn’t proud of it, I’m still not,’ he said.

While he may regret how his relationship with one of United’s greatest-ever managers capitulated, Van Nistelrooy learned a lot from Ferguson and greatly admired him as a man-manager.

‘The most important thing I learned from working with Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alex Ferguson was their relationship with the individual. It’s not a football player; it’s a person. 

When you reach that connection, you get the best out of people – and from there on, you can help them build their careers. I never let that thought go out of my mind.

‘Sometimes you have to be tough on them, of course, and sometimes you have to get your arm around them. That mixture is important, but the most important thing is to always be honest and straight.’

This will surely be good news for all Manchester United fans who want to see the Dutchman hone the finishing of the raw Hojlund and potential new signing Joshua Zirkzee of Bologna.

Whether Van Nistelrooy’s goal-scoring prowess and man-management skills will turn Man United’s fortunes around is still being determined. 

But if United continues to falter under Erik Ten Hag, the returning fan-favorite Van Nistelrooy, with established success as a head coach, may become a contender to take the reins at Old Trafford.