Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek decided on a loan deal with Everton as opposed to Crystal Palace as he wants to be Frank Lampard’s first signing for Everton.
The Dutch midfielder’s fully salary will be paid by Everton until the end of the season, with Lampard indicating Beek as a priority target. Crystal Palace had offered to pay 85 percent of Beek’s remaining pay, compared to the full amount proposed by Everton.
Beek saw very limited time on the pitch under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and things haven’t improved in that regard under Ralf Rangnick.
Patrick Vieira had Beek high on his target list for Palace, but the decision ultimately favored Merseyside over Selhurst Park.
“If it happens, it’s good,” Vieira said earlier in January. “If it doesn’t happen then I am pleased with the players that we have.”
Given Everton have Abdoulaye Doucouré, Tom Davies and Fabian Delph are all out of the lineup until March with injuries, the signing of Beek does wonders for struggling Everton squad.
Beek joined Manchester United from Ajax back in the summer of 2020. Since then, he has played just shy of 580 Premier League minutes across two seasons. He technically has just four Premier League starts in that time frame, after moving over from Ajax for £35m.
He has zero league starts in 2021-2022 season, with eight appearances as a substitute.
This move is even more crucial for the Dutch international as Louis van Gaal, Dutch manager, mentioned recently he needed to see Beek playing more regularly to be considered for World Cup action set to begin later in November.
Van de Beek has a chance to make his Everton debut against Brentford at Goodison Park in next weekend’s FA Cup fourth-round tie.
Everton are scheduled for Premier League matches against Newcastle United and Leeds United soon after.
Van de Beek, along with Lampard, join an Everton team sitting in 16th place at the the time of publication, just four points above the relegation zone.
