Donny van de Beek discusses Everton loan & Man Utd ambitions for next season under Erik ten Hag

Donny van de Beek has insisted his loan move to Everton was a ‘good experience’ last season, despite the Manchester United midfielder playing just seven games for the Merseyside club.

Van de Beek headed to Goodison Park in January for the second half of the 2021/22 campaign, with it hoped, at the time, he and fellow new arrival Dele Alli would push Everton towards safety.

While the Toffees did survive relegation, the midfielders played a small role, with Van de Beek making just three 90-minute appearances, and missing 11 consecutive matches through injury.

Despite that, the Dutchman believes his time at the club was beneficial. “For my experience, I think [the Everton loan] was good,” he told United’s website in a recent interview.

“Obviously, I was a little bit unlucky with my injuries. I missed a lot of games but to have that experience… it was not an easy season for the team, because we played to avoid relegation, which is not what you want for a club like Everton. But, overall, it was a good experience to be there.”

What next at United?

Van de Beek returned to Old Trafford this summer and was reunited with his former manager Erik ten Hag.

The pair enjoyed real success at Ajax and were part of the side who famously got to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019.

United fans will be hoping for similar triumphs from Ten Hag at Old Trafford, and Van de Beek claims he can already see similarities between the manager’s time in Amsterdam and Manchester.

“I worked three years with him altogether,” the 25-year-old explained. “So now it’s a few years ago but I see a lot of things we did already in Ajax as well, like training stuff. So yeah, I know already.

“[United] is a massive club with a lot of fans and, to wear the shirt, it’s always a special feeling,” he added. “For me as well, I’m really happy to be back.”

Asked what his ambitions are for the upcoming season, Van de Beek responded: “I think making as many minutes personally, as I can.

“I think we need to improve as a team. If you’re looking at last season, we have a lot of things to improve and, if we work on that now, then we’ll see where we end up.”

Van de Beek played just 68 minutes of Premier League football in the opening half of last season, and was again named as a substitute in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Liverpool, Ten Hag’s first match in charge of the Red Devils.