Donny van de Beek tipped to become Manchester United’s version of Thomas Muller
The Dutchman started in the victory over RB Leipzig and Owen Hargreaves believes he has a big role to play at Old Trafford
Owen Hargreaves has compared Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek to Thomas Muller.
The Dutchman moved to Old Trafford from Ajax in the summer but has found game time hard to come by so far.
He is still awaiting his first start in the Premier League, although he has made four substitute appearances for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Van de Beek was left on the bench for the 0-0 draw with Chelsea last weekend, but he was included in the starting line-up for the midweek victory over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
The midfielder impressed as United ran out 5-0 winners to make it six points from six in the group stage.
And Hargreaves, who played for both United and Bayern Munich during his career, has compared Van de Beek to Muller.
"I think he's a really good player," Hargreaves said on BT Sport. "He hasn't had the opportunity to show it.
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"He could be like what Thomas Muller is for Bayern Munich - the style. Everybody tried to get Thomas Muller out of the team, but once he's in, you can't get him out in terms of goals, assists, he's very unselfish, he can press the ball, he works in a midfield three, he can play as an 8 or a 10.
“[Van de Beek] is one of those. Once he's in the team Ole is going to find it hard to get him out.”
Solskjaer previously felt the need to insist Van de Beek would get opportunities this season after Gary Neville and Patrice Evra questioned why United had signed him.
“Don't worry about that," Solskjaer said on Saturday when asked how Van de Beek could force his way into the starting XI. “He'll get his games. Don't worry about that. It's easy to say who should be playing and more difficult to say who shouldn't.”
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