Donny van de Beek 's bad luck at Manchester United continued on Tuesday, with the midfielder forced off in tears against Bournemouth after a nasty-looking injury.
The former Ajax man was handed a rare start by Erik ten Hag as United took on Gary O'Neil's Cherries. He was forced off shortly before half-time, though, after a horror collision with Marcos Senesi left him in agony.
Senesi appeared to slip in the wet conditions while attempting to play the ball, and went careering into his opponent. Van de Beek's knee looked to have jarred, and he was visibly in pain as he left the field of play.
Van de Beek was down for several minutes receiving treatment after the challenge from Senesi. Eventually, United confirmed the 25-year-old's game was over and brought on Alejandro Garnacho in his place.
The departing player attempted to walk from the field under his own power, but was in tears as he ended up limping away. United will now face a wait to learn how long they will be without the £40m man.
It was horrible timing for Van de Beek, who was making only his second league start of the season after missing several games through injury in the autumn. He has yet to complete 90 minutes this term, but did play an hour of the 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa in November.
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While Senesi clearly slipped into the challenge, some fans felt the Argentina international should have been shown a red card. One Twitter account called it "a potential leg-breaker" while there was plenty of sympathy for the Man Utd man.
"I feel so bad for Donny van de Beek, dude cannot catch a break," was the verdict from one viewer. "Hope it doesn’t take too long for Van de Beek to return to the pitch after this tackle" said another.
The injury came not long after former Man Utd defender Mikael Silvestre suggested Van de Beek had just six months to rescue his Man Utd career. The Frenchman said Van de Beek, who moved to Old Trafford in 2020, hasn't been the same player he was under Erik ten Hag at Ajax.
Van de Beek had been an influential player under Ten Hag as Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019. In the years since, though, he has failed to find the same consistency of form in a United shirt.
"I’ve seen him better in the past. But I think positioning-wise, he’s acting quite well," Ten Hag said in November. But he has to make that step up. I don’t think a loan [makes] sense. It’s either he fights [for] himself and proves himself, in this atmosphere in this environment, or he goes.
"But for me, there is still a way for him, there is still a perspective for him. It’s not going to be easy because the competition there is really strong."
