When Donny van de Beek made the short journey from his city centre flat to The Lowry last month, he thought his personal fan club had arrived to greet him.
"Donny! Donny!" they shouted from one of the balconies high above.
Van de Beek looked up.
"You're s--t!"
Some Leeds fans occupy one of the flats that loom over the entrance to Manchester United's pre-match base and, white, yellow and blue flag in hand, have started to greet the squad. Van de Beek had travelled separately from his teammates, so was subjected to personal heckling.
Fans were more appreciative at Brentford last week. When Van de Beek finished his warm-down, some savouring the hospitality treatment hollered Van de Beek's name, applauded him and shouted, "We love you, man." Van de Beek gave them an appreciative wave.
Whenever one arrived in a press box for a United away day, there was the familiar sight of Van de Beek admiring the pitch around 90 minutes before kick-off. It did not take long to cotton on this was confirmation he was on the bench. With the lawn mowers smoothing the divots and the stadium sparse, Van de Beek has embarked on many a demoralising post-match jog.
Ahead of Van de Beek's first Premier League start at Southampton, he spoke to the broadcaster before the official team news - confirmation he was starting. Van de Beek has only had that privilege on three more occasions, two of them in meaningless May matches against Leicester and Wolves that were held days before the visit of Liverpool and the Europa League final.
Out of the United team, out of the Dutch squad and potentially on his way out, this season has developed into such an unmitigated disaster for Van de Beek that Phil Jones has started more often in the Premier League.
Sources say Van de Beek is upset and felt he was lied to by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer over his playing prospects. His former agent Guido Albers is believed to rue his own naivety at accepting Solskjaer's excuses. The oblivious Albers deserves a fair share of the blame and Van de Beek is now represented by Ali Dursun, who brokered Frenkie de Jong's transfer from Ajax to Barcelona.
Frustration boiled over in late September, a month after Solskjaer explained to Albers why he had vetoed a loan for Van de Beek to Everton, when Van de Beek hurled his training bib on the floor after another no-show against Villarreal.
Solskjaer promised Van de Beek would 'reap the rewards' on the eve of his last stand at Watford, where Van de Beek almost kept the scourge of his career in a job with an imperious second-half performance. Michael Carrick said United 'had ideas for Van de Beek' but that was hollow, for Ralf Rangnick was sat in the Old Trafford press conference room a week later.
Rangnick claimed he would grant squad players 'as much game-time as possible' yet Van de Beek has started in only one of his 10 games in charge - against Young Boys in a Champions League group stage dead-rubber.
Van de Beek became a lightning rod for United matchgoers to turn against Solskjaer. His name was chanted loudly as he warmed up during the surrender to City in November and the removal of Fred (a Solskjaer disciple) for Van de Beek was sarcastically cheered. Van de Beek's entrance at Vicarage Road two weeks later was celebrated almost as loudly as when he scored.
Van de Beek was shortlisted as a playmaker option by United in January of 2020 (before the signing of Bruno Fernandes) but top of it was Jack Grealish. Before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world, United began the framework of a £65million deal for Grealish.
In a parallel universe, relegation and potential financial fair play breaches would have driven Grealish's price down. Instead, almost every football club's spending was drastically reduced by the pandemic and Villa rallied to stay up on the final day of the 2019-20 season.
With Jadon Sancho earmarked as United's priority, the club discounted Grealish as an attainable target as he was valued at £80m. Borussia Dortmund demanded £108m for Sancho.
Before settling on Grealish, United had identified James Maddison as second on their playmaker shortlist. Maddison was also valued at £80m by Leicester and once the boyhood United fan and his advisers were informed of United's preference for Grealish, they negotiated a new contract with Leicester in late April that was oddly not announced until August.
United had partially filed Van de Beek low down their list as he was expected to sign for Real Madrid, yet they deferred any squad investments because of the pandemic. With Dortmund digging their heels in over Sancho and Ajax keen to maximise Van de Beek's already dwindling resale value, the Dutchman was offered to United, who signed him for £35m rising to £40m.
The deal was swiftly negotiated and Van de Beek, 23 at the time, fit into United's preferred age range of 23-28-year-old signings and was a genuine target, albeit never a first choice. With their ideal options unattainable, United had the choice of not reinforcing their creative department or investing in a recent Champions League semi-finalist who cost half of what Grealish would have and almost a third of Sancho's asking price.
Van de Beek became their headline signing and Ajax chief executive Edwin van der Sar published an open letter to United fans in the Manchester Evening News, asking them to 'take good care' of Van de Beek.
Chuffed to have been remotely involved in this: Edwin Van der Sar’s open letter to United fans in today’s Manchester Evening News about Donny van de Beek @AFCAjax #mufc pic.twitter.com/9u3zenvLn7
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst)
The issue with the Van de Beek deal is high-ranking United sources stressed in October 2019 Solskjaer would only settle with a second-choice target in a worst-case scenario. Van de Beek was third-choice and, crucially given his peers, not Premier League-proven.
Figures at United are now of the belief Van de Beek is too slight to succeed in the Premier League. When Paul Pogba succumbed to injury in February, Van de Beek felt the cold snap and sustained a muscular injury.
Two matches against West Ham have defined Van de Beek's United career. The first, on December 5 2020, remains his last meaningful Premier League start and he was substituted at the interval with United 1-0 down. Two months later in the FA Cup fifth round tie at Old Trafford, Solskjaer became animated with Van de Beek and demanded more urgency. The message did not get through and he was replaced in the 73rd minute.
Teammates have been impressed by Van de Beek's training performances and sympathise with his peripheral status but his malaise was apparent in the Netherlands squad. Sources in the Dutch camp say the coaches were unfussed by Van de Beek's withdrawal from the European Championship as he struggled to carry out instructions.
Van de Beek is hopeful of securing a loan ahead of Monday's 11pm deadline and the destination is bound to signal United's intention. If he stays in the Premier League then his United career could be resuscitated but if he heads abroad then it will have flatlined.
There are suggestions even the possibility of the Ajax coach Erik ten Hag succeeding Rangnick may not discourage Van de Beek from seeking a permanent transfer in the summer as he is that burned by Solskjaer's treatment.
He might at least avoid Leeds fans at Elland Road next month.
