Robin van Persie tells Donny van de Beek he has to mentally adjust to being at Man United
Manchester, Wednesday
Manchester United great Robin van Persie has warned Donny van de Beek about the pressures of playing for the club ahead of his £40m transfer.
Van de Beek is set to join from boyhood club Ajax imminently - in what will be United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first signing of the summer.
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The 23-year-old has agreed a five-year contract around £107,000-a-week before bonuses.
While Van Persie - who was the catalyst for the Red Devils’ 2012-13 title - is delighted for his Dutch compatriot, he has warned Van de Beek that the Premier League is a ‘completely different world’ to the Eredivisie and that his hefty price tag won’t count for much inside the United dressing room.
‘Donny van de Beek is 23-years-old and that is a nice age to make a transfer to the Premier League,’ Van Persie wrote in his column for De Telegraaf.
‘I was a bit younger when I went to Arsenal, and in the locker room, I was considered a player for the future.
Winning the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord meant nothing. The Premier League is a completely different world.
‘Donny will be brought in as a major purchase from Manchester United, but he will discover that those other 22 players have also been brought in as a “major purchase”. One had an even bigger transfer than the other.
‘It means that he has to stand there right away and he has to mentally adjust to that. Because Manchester United is in every way a beast of a club.’
Van de Beek’s imminent arrival could see him now form part of an exciting United midfield trio alongside Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes.
Solskjaer will now push on with plans to at least sign another centre back and a right winger - with Jadon Sancho the No 1 target in the latter position.
Van de Beek has delayed his arrival to the Holland national team camp in order to complete his Manchester United medical.
He is in the Holland squad for their Nations League games at home to Poland and Italy, but will link up with the squad later than was initially planned.
His father, Andre van de Beek, has described the transfer as ‘a dream come true’.
As reported by Omroep Gelderland, he said: ‘This is a dream come true. It’s the perfect moment for him to make this step to such a beautiful club. Many clubs were interested, but Donny took this decision himself.’
Talking from their home village of Nijkerkerveen, Andre said his phone has not stopped since news of the transfer broke. - Daily Mail
