Everton are considering a January move for Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek after failing to sign him in the summer, according to the Toffees’ director of football Marcel Brands.
The Netherlands international has struggled for game time since arriving from Ajax in a £39 million move in the summer of 2020.
Van de Beek started just four Premier League games last season and has played six minutes of league football under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this term.
"We had him on our list," Brands told NOS (via Sky Sports).
"At the beginning of the transfer window, we inquired at United, then it was impossible.
"At the end of the window, I received a call from Guido Albers, his agent, that he might be loaned out after all. But at the last minute it was cancelled; stopped again.”
With the 24-year-old looking unlikely to change his fortunes at Old Trafford this season, Brands was open to the idea of returning to the table in January if the circumstances are right.
"You always depend on whether a club wants to cooperate, and it is early October, so much can still happen with injuries. United are playing on various fronts. It's hard to say now,” he said.
"It is of course a pity for Donny [that he is not playing regularly]. He is a very good player, no doubt about it. Such a boy wants to play and wants to return to the Dutch national team.
"But you know that at such a club the pressure is great and the competition is huge. When you see what United had sitting on the bench [at the weekend]: Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba."
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