Departing playmaker Juan Mata has already told Manchester United how to get the best from Donny van de Beek next season - and Cristiano Ronaldo will approve.
Signing for the Old Trafford giants from Ajax two years ago, Van de Beek has endured a testing time at United and was sent out on loan to Everton during the January window. However, there could finally be light at the end of the tunnel for the 25-year-old Netherlands international under Erik ten Hag.
Van de Beek cost United £40million in 2020 and has played 50 games in all competitions, but starts in the Premier League have proved hard to come by. The Dutchman has been named in the starting XI four times over the course of his United career in that particular competition.
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Moving forward, the central midfielder will be given a chance to prove his worth by Ten Hag - a man who already knows him well from their time together in Amsterdam. Even so, the new United manager can also lean on advice laid out for him by Mata to justify that stance.
Heading out the door this summer, Mata rubbed shoulders with Van de Beek at Carrington and, on rare occasions under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was given game time alongside the Dutchman. One such instance came soon after he was signed from Ajax and Van de Beek certainly caught the eye.
Within a month of his arrival, the 19-cap international had provided a superb assist for Mata during a Carabao Cup victory over Brighton and that was enough to earn the Spaniard's seal of approval. Mata will leave United at the end of his contract and his baton might well be passed over to Van de Beek.
Speaking to Sky Sports about that performance at the Amex Stadium in September 2020, Mata said: "He's a very clever player. I love playing with him, because he finds pockets of spaces and he understands football in the way that I like by playing one-twos, by passing and moving and the goal was like that. He's always in the right position."
Those comments will no doubt alert Ronaldo after Mata drew parallels between their thinking during a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic last month. Mata said: "It's been a great experience to get to know him and to train with him and to see also how he understands football.
"I've had many conversations with him about football. He's a bit older than me - so maybe he doesn't look at it like this - but I think we are from the generation who saw football in a different way to the new generation."
Mata clearly relished playing alongside two players on the same wavelength as him in Ronaldo and Van de Beek, and there's every chance the pair could be huge assets to Ten Hag at United next season.
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