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Former Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek has recovered from a virus and is now ready to kick on at Girona, and could net his previous employers €15 million in doing so.
Van de Beek’s four-year nightmare at Old Trafford was finally brought to a permanent end in the summer transfer window, when he was sold to Girona for an initial payment of just €500,000.
After underwhelming loan spells at Everton and Eintracht Frankfurt, the 27-year-old seemed destined for the scrapheap, but the Catalan side took a punt on the player.
Since his arrival, the Netherlands international has only played a bit-part role, and Spanish newspaper La Razon, via Sport Witness, report that he has been suffering with a virus which has limited his game time.
But the report says that this is behind him now, with the evidence supporting this claim. He has played in Girona’s last four games, managing a full 90 minutes against Athletic Club and featuring for most of their last Champions League clash, where he scored his first goal in Girona colours in a 2-3 defeat to Feyenoord.
All this is good news for United who could receive up to €15m should the Dutchman impress at his new home.
The report doesn’t clarify what he specifically needs to achieve in order to trigger presumably multiple clauses to secure the full amount, but reports at the time indicated that initial add-ons would raise the fee to €4-5m.
Further performance-based incentives, as well as a sell-on clause for United, were also written into the deal, which keeps the midfielder at Girona until 2028.
When the documents were exchanged, there was doubtless a feeling that these were unlikely to be met given that he never managed to recapture the sparkling form he enjoyed at Ajax which carried him onto the 2019 Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Sport Witness note, however, that the Dutchman has only got his chance in the first team because of injuries to other players, notably Oriol Romeu, so it remains to be seen if he can seize the opportunity.
Girona manager Míchel is said to be hopeful to get the best out of him, as he did with Daley Blind and Eric García last season.
Van de Beek made 62 appearances for United after joining for £35m in 2020 but failed to become a regular in the first team at any time. It was hoped that Erik ten Hag’s arrival as manager would be a gamechanger for the player, whose best form came at Ajax under Ten Hag, but he remained a peripheral figure under him as well.
Feature image Nigel Roddis via Getty Images
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