Manchester United’s decision to send Donny van de Beek on loan to Everton has been questioned by Rio Ferdinand.
Van de Beek swapped Old Trafford for Goodison Park in January after growing frustrated with the lack of opportunities at United.
He earned his first Premier League start of the season on the weekend, helping Everton beat Leeds 3-0 in an impressive performance .
New Everton boss Frank Lampard has been delighted with the impact the Dutch international has made over the past few weeks.
Former Manchester United defender Ferdinand says that Van de Beek has been impressing behind the scenes with the Toffees, as well as on the pitch.
“I’ve been speaking to a few people at the club and they’ve said that he’s gone in there and lifted the levels, training-wise,” he said on Vibe with FIVE .
“[He’s a] great lad, first and foremost, but you can see a lot of them are going, ‘Wow, he’s this good, they must be unbelievable at Manchester United if he can’t get in’.”
Van de Beek started just four Premier League games in 18 months for United following his £35million move from Ajax in the summer of 2020.
The 24-year-old was starved of opportunity under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, with Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay, Fred, Paul Pogba and even Nemanja Matic picked ahead of him.
He had made 14 appearances across all competitions this season before joining Everton, with 10 of those coming from the bench.
Despite his lack of match sharpness, Lampard had no hesitation in bringing him to Everton once he was hired to replace Rafa Benitez.
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"I sort of expected that (the impact), because I knew Donny as a player from the outside, brought him here because of his talents in terms of he can play, his intelligence, his work ethic, really intelligent and technical player," Lampard said after the win over Leeds.
“He was part of a really strong work-ethic kind of performance, he matched the other players in that sense, he gave us a sense of calm, he linked the play, looks confident on the ball and that’s exactly what I brought him here to do.
“I think he can do different roles, and that was the beauty and why I moved so quickly to try to get him when I came in.”
He added: “I’m a big admirer of his and I think he can do both roles for us – he played in the double six, or two midfield players (against Leeds) and I know he has the talent to link and get us through the lines with his passing, also the work ethic needed in that role," Lampard said of the new man.
“I know he can do higher and he’s a goal threat too.
“That’s one of the big pulls of me bringing him in, knowing he can bring different elements to help us in different ways, and when called upon to do that kind of disciplined role, I thought he did it really, really well.”
