A prominent figure in Dutch football has criticised Manchester United for their treatment of Dutch midfielder Donny Van de Beek since joining the club earlier this month.
Manchester United may only have played two Premier League games in the new season but Sjaak Swart, who is understood to be an advisor of Dutch midfielder Donny Van de Beek, is disheartened with the peripheral role his client has played, nevertheless.
"A substitute, I don't like it at all," he told VoetbalPrimeur in the Netherlands, "I couldn't do it myself, standing in with four minutes to play."
After joining the club from Ajax for a fee of £40 million, Van de Beek's league appearances have been limited to his emergence from bench in United's defeat to Crystal Palace and Saturday's dramatic win against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Manchester United's Donny van de Beek warms up during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester.Despite his limited on-field time, however, Van de Beek's presence on the pitch has proved promising for United.
The scorer of the club's only goals in their 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, Van de Beek also played a pivotal role in the winning of a penalty which would allow United snatch a late victory against Brighton.
"I have to say he did three more good things," remarked Swart of Van de Beek's contribution. "The penalty, where the winning goal came from, it came from him.
"Normally they should've lost 7-1. Brighton hit the post and bar five times. They have a nice team, but that should not happen to Manchester United."
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An Ajax legend in his own right, Sjaak Swart started in two of the three European Cup finals won by the Dutch clubs in the early 1970s. While Guido Albers represents Van de Beek as his agent, Swart is understood to have a close relationship with the former Ajax midfielder.
After making a solitary start against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup last week, the 23-year-old Van de Beek has already done enough to give the impression that he will sooner or later make the breakthrough into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's starting XI.
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