Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has assured Donny van de Beek that he will be a key player for the club going forward.
The Netherlands international arrived at Old Trafford in the summer in a deal worth £35.7m.
However, opportunities for the Dutchman to impress have been hard to come by, with Van de Beek having been restricted to just two starts in the Premier League.
Paul Pogba, Fred, Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic and Bruno Fernandes all appear to be ahead of the ex-Ajax man in the midfield pecking order.
That has led some to question the wisdom of United signing Van de Beek in the summer, but Solskjaer insists his time will come.
“Donny has played well when he’s got the chance,” he said. “I think we are too quick sometimes to jump on that if he isn’t playing, that it is a failure.
“Victor [Lindelof] and Fred are good examples in my team that it takes a little bit of time and now they are massively important players in our squad and in our team and it will be the same with Donny.
"He has come in and is in a midfield pool of players with quality, challenging with Bruno [Fernandes], Juan [Mata], Jesse [Lingard].
“I’ve got loads of no.10s and loads of centre midfielders with Paul [Pogba], Nemanja [Matic], Scott [McTominay], Fred.
"There are many of them and Donny has played well when he’s got the chance and that is a big thing, that you are ready.
“He is always ready, he works hard in training, [he is] positive and he will make differences in many games for us this season, but he’ll grow more and more even for next year.”
Van de Beek will hope to be involved when United face Manchester City in the League Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.
Victory for Solskjaer’s side would set up a Wembley final against Tottenham, who beat Brentford 2-0 on Tuesday.
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