Donny van de Beek opens up on ‘mentally difficult’ period as he makes goalscoring return for Man Utd

Donny van de Beek has said his six-month absence from the Manchester United team has made him realise how much he ‘loves playing football’ as the Dutchman made a goalscoring return to the team on Wednesday.

An injury sustained in January cut Van de Beek’s 2022/23 campaign short and the midfielder made just 10 appearances last term, with only four coming as starts. As Van de Beek was eased back into pre-season training, he missed United’s first game of the summer as the Red Devils beat Leeds United 2-0 last week.

But the 26-year-old played 45 minutes in Edinburgh and scored the only goal of the game as United beat Lyon on Wednesday. Speaking after the game, Van de Beek said he has been ‘looking forward’ to his return for months.

“It was great, my first game after six months. I don’t have to tell you that the injury is such a mental difficult period,” the ex-Ajax man told MUTV. “A difficult period for me and my family. To be back on the pitch, that was great.

“Of course, it’s nice if you score a goal as well but that’s not the most important thing, it’s an extra thing. It’s amazing but I have been looking forward for months to this moment. I know it’s just a friendly game but for me it is a big moment.

“It’s easy to say, but I think it makes you mentally stronger because you realise you don’t want to have this time of moment to happen, but if it happens you realise how much you love playing football,” Van de Beek added.

“The moment coming back on the pitch, you enjoy it more. You have to work really hard and when all the guys are going to the gym and they go outside, and I just stay with the physio. We work really hard and that’s a hard moment.”