Marcel Brands has opened up on Everton’s summer interest in signing Donny van de Beek from Manchester United.
Everton made a deadline day move to sign Van de Beek during the summer transfer window, with the midfielder having been keen to quit the Red Devils in search of regular first-team football.
The 24-year-old started just four league fixtures during a disappointing debut campaign after signing from Ajax and has since failed to force his way into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans.
Brands has revealed that Everton were interested in offering Van de Beek an escape route from Old Trafford, after receiving a call from the player’s agent to inform the club about his potential availability for loan.
“We had him on our list,” Brands told NOS. “At the beginning of the transfer window, we enquired at United, then it was impossible. At the end of the window, I received a call from Guido Albers, his agent, that he might be rented out after all. But at the last minute it was cancelled. Stopped again.”
Brands discussed the possibility of Everton renewing their interest in the Netherlands international during the winter window, with Van de Beek having featured for just five minutes across United’s seven Premier League fixtures so far.
The midfielder is understood to be keen to leave in search of opportunities, but Brands believes it is ‘hard to say’ whether the Red Devils will allow him to leave in the winter window.
“You always depend on whether a club wants to cooperate,” he said. “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…”
