Ex-Everton man ‘worried’ Man Utd midfielder made wrong move
Former Everton defender Johnny Heitinga has “doubts” that Donny van de Beek “made the right decision” to join Man Utd.
The Dutchman, who completed a £40million move from Ajax in the summer, only started his first Premier League match at the end of November as they came from two goals down to win 3-2 against Southampton.
He has impressed in the Champions League, making three starts, including the 4-1 win over Istanbul Basaksehir and a 5-0 victory over RB Leipzig, but was hauled off at half-time in their 3-1 Premier League win over West Ham.
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Van de Beek was left on the bench by Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in their last match against rivals Manchester City and compatriot Heitinga is “worried” about the midfielder’s development.
Heitinga told Stadium Astro: “He has had an impact when coming on.
“I have doubts that he made the right decision in going to Manchester United because they have top quality midfielders – Pogba, Bruno Fernandes.
“He has to get used to the speed of play, the fitness. It’s tough, it’s intense in the Premier League, the Dutch league can’t be compared.
“Frenkie de Jong is playing at Barcelona, Matthijs de Ligt is at Juventus, Hakim Ziyech is playing for Chelsea, so Donny was part of a team and now he has to do it by himself.
“It’s not easy when you see the midfielders at Manchester United to play them out of the team.
“I’m in doubt if he made the right decision to make that move. I’m a little bit worried about his development because he isn’t playing many games. At his age, he needs to play games. This is not good for his development.”