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Guido Albers, the former agent of Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek, has revealed that Paul Pogba’s preferential treatment at Old Trafford previously led the Dutchman to seek a move away from the club. Van de Beek has failed to live up to expectations at United since joining from Ajax in 2020 and spent the second half of last season on loan at Everton after struggling to hold down a regular first-team spot under former interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
The midfielder has continued to kick around on the sidelines over the course of this season after playing less than 20 minutes in the Premier League since the beginning of the campaign. Albers has now revealed that Van de Beek wanted to leave United at one point after growing disillusioned with his inability to compete with Pogba, who he felt was treated differently to him before departing on a free transfer earlier this year.
“I saw the disappointment about the way he was treated by Manchester United, and he saw up close what I did to turn the situation around,” Albers, who has since been replaced as Van de Beek’s agent by Ali Dursun, told Voetbal Primeur.
“But from the day he was not allowed to leave Manchester United again, it was final. In the Netherlands, Donny got all the appreciation, performed well and was super popular with the fans. At Manchester United he then never played.
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“The relationship between him and the club really cooled down badly. He had to compete against Paul Pogba, who reported late to the training camp, said sorry and was allowed to play again in the place of a boy who was training 10 hours a day for eight weeks to show he was good enough.
“I then had that disappointment thrown at me. I underestimated what not playing anymore did to him mentally. I should have looked earlier: how can I help him?”
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Pogba’s recent departure has done little to aid Van de Beek’s hopes of playing regularly at United, with the 25-year-old still facing stiff competition from the likes of Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay, Fred and Casemiro in the middle of the park. It remains to be seen whether he will eventually be allowed to leave United in search of regular game time elsewhere, with his lack of minutes potentially able to harm his chances of making the Netherlands squad for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Van de Beek has registered over 50 total appearances for United in all competitions, but the vast majority of those have come off the bench with time running out for him to establish a starting spot at Old Trafford. He remains tied down to the Red Devils until the summer of 2025 as things stand, but it would not be a surprise to see him leave the club before then as a result of his bit-part status that is showing no signs of changing any time soon.
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