Manchester United have finally found a buyer for Donny van de Beek, though the terms of the agreement make sobering reading the club’s financial department.
Van de Beek cost Man Utd £35m prior to add-ons when plucked from Ajax back in 2020. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was United’s manager at the time, though the Norwegian could not get a tune out of Van de Beek upon arrival.
The subsequent appointment of Erik ten Hag who managed Van de Beek at Ajax had sparked hope the midfielder’s career could finally ignite at Old Trafford.
Ultimately, Van de Beek’s spell in England failed to get out of first gear, with the Dutchman making just eight Premier League appearances since Ten Hag took charge.
New co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is desperate to offload the deadwood within the United squad and Van de Beek is a player the British billionaire wants gone.
Indeed, prior reports claimed Ratcliffe hopes to move on from plenty of squad players who the club don’t believe will ever make any type of meaningful impact in Manchester. Aside from Van de Beek, winger Facundo Pellistri is another who unfortunately falls into that category.
Man Utd have sought buyers for Van de Beek and they’ve finally found one in the form of LaLiga side Girona.
Van de Beek heading to Spain
The Spanish outfit have struck a deal with Man Utd to sign Donny van de Beek in a permanent deal. Discussions over personal terms are now set to take place early next week.
Finally offloading Van de Beek is unquestionably a positive step for Man Utd, though the terms of the agreement will do almost nothing to bolster Ten Hag’s transfer budget for the current window.
Girona will pay a tiny up front fee of just €500,000/approx. £420,000. A series of add-ons have been included in the agreement, though only €5m/£4.2m of them are believed to be realistically achievable.
Explaining the add-ons situation, the Athletic stated the total package is worth €20m/£17m.
Fabrizio Romano stated €5m of those relate to appearance targets in the 2024/25 season. The remaining €15m, per the Athletic, are far harder to trigger.
As such, and if only the realistic add-ons are triggered, the final sale price of Van de Beek will be under £5m.
Nonetheless, in the event the 27-year-old thrives in Spain and goes on to earn a future move, Man Utd would be in line to receive another handy cash injection.
