The agent of Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the club is "bad news" for his client, while he also admitted that he tried to engineer a move to Everton before the transfer deadline.
The 24-year-old joined the Red Devils from Ajax last summer, but has been unable to assert himself as a first-team regular. Indeed, the Dutchman played the full 90 minutes in a Premier League match just three times during 2020/21, despite costing the club around £35m.
Ahead of Van de Beek in the United pecking order are the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has also opted to continue partnering either Fred, Scott McTominay or Nemanja Matic in the more withdrawn central midfield roles.
Now, with Ronaldo's arrival, Pogba may be pushed back into a central trio, further limiting the chances of Van de Beek playing for United. That is seemingly a huge concern for his agent, Guido Albers, who told Dutch television that he is concerned about what the future holds.
"Cristiano arrived on Friday which we knew was bad news for us," Albers told Dutch outlet Ziggo Sport.
"[Paul] Pogba plays on the left, and with Cristiano's arrival it means another extra player in midfield with Pogba moving away from the left.
Albers also admitted to holding talks with Everton before the transfer deadline about a possible move, adding: "We had conversations with Solskjaer and the board. We took the initiative to find a club and our search ended up at Everton. We opened talks with Marcel Brands and Farhad Moshiri.
"On Monday night [prior to deadline day] we received a call from Solskjaer and the club who told us that a transfer was out of the question and that he had to report himself to training the next morning."
Albers' latest comments follow on from a recent interview with talkSPORT, where he outlined Van de Beek's desire to fight for his place for United - stating he signed a six-year deal for a reason and was keen to play.
"Donny is happy with the fact the club has so much trust in him,” Albers remarked. "But last season was really painful because he didn’t play much. He was ready for this. It’s about choices and timing, you have to accept. He signed a six year contract, but he wants to play.
"In the last few weeks he showed he is ready for the new season and he showed what the club likes to see. So we will see in the next few months whether the club will use him or not. Hopefully they will use him, if not we have to find other solutions. But I don’t think it is necessary.
"In the next months, it will be clearer that Donny can be a really good Man Utd player and please the fans who are supporting him all the time. He will succeed."
Source : 90min