Everton technical director Marcel Brands has confirmed the club are interested in signing Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek.
The Netherlands international has been a bit-part player at Old Trafford following his move from Ajax in 2020 and was visibly frustrated when he remained an unused substitute in United’s 2-1 win over Villarreal in the Champions League last week.
Van de Beek has made just one Premier League appearance this campaign on top of the 19 he made in his maiden season in England – only four of those were starts, and Brands has revealed Everton offered him an escape route in the summer.
“We had him on our list,” Brands said, via NOS. “At the beginning of the transfer window, we enquired to United, but it was impossible.
“At the end of the window, I received a call from Guido Albers, his agent, that he might be loaned out after all. But at the last minute it was cancelled, stopped again.”
Brands went on to say that Everton remain interested in the midfielder, but admitted the situation could change between now and the January transfer window.
“You always depend on whether a club wants to cooperate,” Brands added. “And it is early October, so much can still happen with injuries. United are playing on various fronts, it’s hard to say now.”
“It is of course a pity for Donny. He is a very good player, no doubt about it. Such a boy wants to play and wants to return to the Dutch national team.
“But you know that at such a club the pressure is great and the competition is huge. When you see what United had sitting on the bench – Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba.”
