Donny van de Beek’s pre-season work in the gym hasn’t gone unnoticed by his Manchester United team-mates.
The Dutch international endured a difficult first season at United since signing from Ajax last summer, starting just four Premier League games and making 19 appearances in total.
An injury forced Van de Beek to withdraw from the Netherlands’ Euros squad to cap a campaign for the midfielder, but the 24-year-old looks ready to hit the ground running for United this term.
Van de Beek is back on the training pitch for United and looks to have added a few kilos of muscle since the end of the 2020/21 season.
The midfielder was handed the captain’s armband after coming on during United’s 2-2 pre-season draw against Brentford at Old Trafford last week, with club captain Harry Maguire responding to a picture of Van de Beek by cheekily asking: “Don’t stretch that armband!”
Competition for places in the United midfield will once again be fierce this season, but Van de Beek may be boosted by the potential departure of Paul Pogba - and his gym work will only boost his chances of more game time given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs a physical presence in the middle of the park.
Van de Beek was thought to have been brought to United to compete with Bruno Fernandes in attacking midfield, but it now looks more likely that the Dutch star could be deployed further back to link defence and attack.
Speaking about Van de Beek’s work in the gym, Fernandes told United’s website: “Yes he’s working hard and working hard in the gym.
“Obviously he is one of the quality players we know and now he’s building up.”
While Van de Beek will need more than muscle to fight his way into Solskjaer’s starting XI, he has a headstart on players returning late from the Euros and looks ready for the fight.
