Donny van de Beek has sent a message to the Everton fans after his loan spell with the club came to an end.
Van de Beek is set to return to Manchester United to begin work under his former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag following the conclusion of the Premier League season. The Dutch midfielder joined Everton on loan for the remainder of the season in January after falling down the pecking order under United’s interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
The 25-year-old made five starts in seven Premier League appearances for the Toffees, finishing his brief spell at Frank Lampard’s side with a goal in their 5-1 defeat against Arsenal on Sunday. Overall, he played 484 minutes for Everton – only marginally more than he got during a frustrating first half of the campaign at United.
Despite his limited personal impact, Van de Beek enjoyed his spell under Lampard’s management at Everton. “Not the way we wanted to finish the season but we already reached our goal a few days ago,” he wrote on Instagram . “I want to thank all the players, staff and especially the fans who were there in the good and tough times. Up the Toffees.”
Everton secured their Premier League status with a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace on Thursday. With survival assured, Lampard made several changes to his starting line-up for the last game of the season at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Van de Beek started the game on the substitutes’ bench, but came on in the 37th minute for Abdoulaye Doucoure. The Netherlands international made the score 2-1 with a tap-in from Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s cross just before half-time, but Arsenal ran away with the game after the break.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Erik ten Hag turn around Donny van de Beek's fortunes at Manchester United? Comment below.
After a short break, Van de Beek will now return to his parent club, where Ten Hag awaits. Van de Beek thrived under his compatriot’s management at Ajax, where he made 175 appearances and helped the club reach the Champions League semi-final in 2019.
His move to United for an initial fee of £40million in the summer of 2020 is yet to work out, but Ten Hag’s move to Old Trafford offers him a clean slate. The 52-year-old is confident he can get the best out of the midfielder.
Speaking in his first press conference as United manager, Ten Hag was asked about whether he was looking forward to working with Van de Beek again. "Yes, of course," he said. "We had a fantastic squad in that time at Ajax. I really had a good relationship with him. Of course I am looking forward to meeting him again on the pitch."
Ten Hag ended his Ajax contract six weeks early in order to start work at United, who finished sixth in the Premier League after taking just 58 points from their 38 games. As Mirror Football exclusively reported , the players were due to be back in for pre-season training on July 4, but Ten Hag wants some of them to report for duty the week beginning June 20.
