Former Tottenham Hotspur player Graham Roberts doesn’t believe Donny van de Beek is the sort of player Spurs need right now.
Since joining Manchester United from Ajax last year for a fee reported by BBC Sport to be worth £35m with an additional £5m in add-ons, the Netherlands midfielder has struggled for minutes at Old Trafford.
The 24-year-old completed his first 90 minutes of this season against West Ham in the Carabao Cup, with his other two appearances coming in the UEFA Champions League, where he played the first half against Young Boys and also as a substitute against Newcastle in the Premier League.
Will Donny Van de Beek leave Manchester United in January?
Yes
No
When quizzed on whether he would take him at Spurs after previous links, with Mourinho reportedly wanting to bring him to north London before he went to Old Trafford in 2020, Roberts wasn’t convinced he was the sort of player they needed.
“We looked at him but is he a creative midfield player? I think he’s more of an up and downer isn’t he, box-to-box.
“Is he a creative [player] who can pick the ball up and play the ball over the top for Son and Kane to run onto? He’s not that sort of player I don’t think. Man United are not going to let him go for peanuts. They will want thirty, forty million for him, which I think they will struggle, so, I just don’t think he’s that person that we need. I think we need a really good creative midfielder,” Roberts told This is Futbol.
Whilst with Ajax, Van de Beek scored 41 goals and assisted a further 34 goals before making the switch to the Red Devils. During this summer’s transfer window, Everton were a club interested in his signature, with Marcel Brands confirming to NOS that there was interest from the Goodison Park outfit, but a move never materialised.