Donny van de Beek opens up on journey to Man Utd after Old Trafford switch
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Donny van de Beek has given an insight into the long footballing journey he’s been on to reach Manchester United.
The Dutchman scored on his debut for the Red Devils at the weekend following his summer arrival from Ajax for £35million.
And he duly made his full debut in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, in a 3-0 win over Luton Town.
Van de Beek’s move to Old Trafford came after rising through the fabled Ajax academy, winning the league two years ago with his boyhood club, as well as reaching the Champions League semi-finals.
Now the midfielder has given an insight into how tough the road to the top has been.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Van de Beek said: “I had a lot of ups and downs. It was not always with me going up, also sometimes I felt not so good.
(Image: SKY SPORTS)
“When I was younger I always had to drive a long way… I lived in a small village and it was maybe 40 minutes’ drive from Amsterdam and when I was younger I was in school as well.
“So they were long days, 8 o’clock in the morning I was going on the bus to school and I wasn’t getting home until 8 o’clock at night.
“But that all made me stronger.”
Van de Beek’s first Ajax match was a Champions League game against Celtic in August 2001, when he was just four years old.
He was soon playing football for Amersfoort-based side Veensche Boys.
(Image: VEENSCHEN BOYS)
Manchester United are looking to plot their path back to the top. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already brought in Donny van de Beek but Jadon Sancho remains Manchester United’s number one target.
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There he was spotted by Harm Grevink, who eventually got United’s No.34 into Ajax’s academy – seven years after he had initially watched them play.
“He saw me for the first time in my old club Veensche Boys and he brought me to Ajax,” he continued.
“In the holidays I wanted to train a little bit more and I did that with him all the time. He’s a special person.
“A lot of things that I did when I was younger with my football I did with him – shooting, getting fit for the pre-season, I trained a lot with him, and as a person I spoke a lot with him and he helped me a lot.”
(Image: GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
United’s new arrival also revealed what Gervink thinks of his move to Old Trafford.
Van de Beek added: He said to me he’s really proud of me and now that I have grown up he wants to see me do what I did with Ajax with United and he hopes that I can have a lot of nice experiences here.”
You can see Mirror Sport’s scouting report of the midfielder from his first game in red here.
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