Former Manchester United captain Patrice Evra has told Donny van de Beek to leave Old Trafford if he wishes to be loved by fans again.
Van de Beek has once again struggled at United this campaign. Having suffered a knock which kept him out of a huge chunk of the season, the Dutchman started matches away at Real Sociedad and Aston Villa in a show of faith from his manager Erik ten Hag.
However, Van de Beek struggled to impose himself in either match and would end up being substituted around the hour mark in both games. Since joining in 2020, the midfielder has played a mere 56 times for the Reds but many had thought that the arrival of his ex-Ajax coach in the summer may revigorate his career.
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This hasn't come to pass though and Van de Beek has continued to struggle although an injury has hampered him so far. Speaking to Betfair, Evra believes that the midfielder may be best off leaving Old Trafford for the good of his career.
"When we bought Donny van de Beek, I was the first one that asked why we had bought another midfielder when we didn't need one," he explained. "We needed a defender at the time.
"Everybody jumped on me saying I hate Van de Beek. I have nothing against him. I saw him after the Tottenham game with his family and I love him.
"My advice to him is that he needs to go somewhere where he feels loved. The problem in England, not just Manchester, is that people don't respect him. He's a very good player.
"He reminds me of [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan and [Alexis] Sanchez, when they struggled at United. When these things happen, you have to go.
"He's losing his time. He's getting injured, he's not playing enough and when he plays all the pressure is on him. "I don't think he can deal well with the pressure. Go to where you feel loved is my advice.
"We can talk about his performance, and I can say he missed his chance, but how many times has he missed his chance? I just care about the player now, not the club or him playing in England at this point."
Van de Beek could be given another chance to impress on Thursday night when the Reds host Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup. Ten Hag's team will be looking for swift revenge after their 3-1 defeat to the West Midlands side on Sunday.
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