Donny van de Beek has been backed to succeed at Manchester United by former Ajax star Andy van der Meyde.

In an interview with The Sun, the ex Ajax and Everton winger says Van de Beek can thrive at Old Trafford if new boss Erik ten Hag trusts him like he did at the Dutch club.

Van de Beek has struggled at Old Trafford since signing in 2020, and is currently out on loan at Everton, where he has been battling injury.

He will hope for another fresh start at Manchester United this summer under a coach he knows well.

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Van der Meyde tips Van de Beek to succeed

Van der Meyde says Van de Beek can make a great impact at Manchester United next season and beyond, providing he gets the opportunities he has been denied so far.

He said: “You saw Donny at Ajax, what he can do in the Champions League. He never gives up but all he needs is a real chance to show what he can do.

“I know that if he gets the trust of the manager, he will score lots of goals and get many assists.”

Van de Beek has only scored two goals since joining Manchester United, one of which came on his debut against Crystal Palace, with the second in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s last game against Watford.

The real battle for Van de Beek has been getting game time. While United celebrated Van de Beek’s 50th appearance earlier this year, just four of these were starts in the Premier League.

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Ten Hag’s arrival is a best case scenario for Van de Beek, although there are no guarantees.

The new United boss did describe him as ‘an absolute key player’ when he departed for United, so the midfielder will hope for a clean slate.

Van de Beek scored 40 goals in his last three seasons at Ajax, so Van der Meyde’s comments about him potentially scoring a lot of goals for United could ring true. But after plenty of time theorising on how Van de Beek could improve the Red Devils, we now simply need to see it.

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