Manchester United are set for a busy summer following Sir Jim Ratcliffe's minority investment
Manchester United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe talks to Sir Alex Ferguson(Image credit: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed his minority stakeholding in Manchester United last month, the billionaire immediately set about undergoing an audit into the club’s recent transfer misfires.
The club have seen a number of big-money transfers fail to meet expectations in recent years as their wait for a Premier League title enters a second decade.
Big changes are expected at Old Trafford this summer as Ratcliffe and his Ineos team take control of football operations and it would appear that one big-money flop could soon be put up for sale for a cup-price fee.
Donny van de Beek watches on from the sidelines (Image credit: Getty Images)
Donny van de Beek was a £35million signing in 2020, as the club look to prepare for the potential loss of Paul Pogba. Then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought the Dutch international in from Ajax, but with just 62 appearances and two goals for the club in four years, it is clear he has not made the grade.
After spending the second half of the 2021/22 season at Everton, he joined Eintracht Frankfurt in a temporary move in January but has made just six appearances so far.
Now, according to Soccernews in the Netherlands, Ratcliffe is willing to cut his losses on the 26-year-old, a year before his £120,000-a-week contract expires in 2025.
They claim that Ratcliffe has slapped a fee of just €10million (£8.5million) on the midfielder, but add that the Red Devils still have ‘room for negotiation’ over this fee.
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Van de Beek’s former side Ajax are mooted as a potential destination.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include tomes on Leeds United and the England national team.
