Former club captain Gary Neville believes prospective Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag should be on the phone to Donny van de Beek to find out what life is really like at Old Trafford.
Neville made the admission during his latest Sky Sports podcast, reflecting on the Reds' dismal 1-0 defeat to Everton on Saturday lunchtime. Anthony Gordon scored the only goal of the game to boost the Toffees' survival hopes and inflict yet another new low on United's season.
The Reds' hopes of securing a top-four finish this season now hang by a very fine thread, with Tottenham Hotspur now six points clear of Ralf Rangnick's side. The summer cannot come quickly enough for United, in the hope that it will mark the beginning of a huge clear out and a new dawn.
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However, former United skipper Neville is concerned about what Ten Hag will make to the situation he could walk into. The Dutchman is the overwhelming favourite to take charge at Old Trafford ahead of next season and Ajax bosses expect him to make the move.
But Neville has stressed his concerns, pointing to United's recent failings and how they could put the Dutchman off taking charge.
"If you sort of look at what they're doing to players, Manchester United, currently, there isn't a player that has grown, really," Neville told Sky Sports. "Look at what they did to Van de Beek.
"If you're Ten Hag, you're on the phone to Van de Beek, thinking, 'What's it like there, Donny?' He isn't going to be saying anything good, is he?
"I suspect that Ten Hag's demands, and not financial demands, control recruitment, structure, youth and I suspect that he will want to come in and not be exposed to what other managers have been exposed to in the last ten years. That might be too much for Manchester United and I suspect that they have got a difficult week or two.
"I still think that they might get it over the line, but the reports this morning [Sunday] were such that Ten Hag has put placing demands on the club that are maybe going above and beyond. But, we don't know if we should believe everything.
"But ordinarily, nowadays, when things come out from the credible sources that we're seeing, there are normally more areas than one. But if they can't get him over the line, what a position for Manchester United to be in, if they can't get a manager to come in that wants to come in, because of his demands on the way that the football club is run."
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