KEY POINTS

  • Donny van de Beek gets his sabbatical from the club after agreeing to a loan with Everton
  • Losing van de Beek further pushes Manchester United's depth into a massive hole at midfield
  • Manchester United has sent out eight players out on loan while acquiring none during the transfer window

Manchester United is having a pretty disappointing winter transfer window deadline as all of their moves thus far have seen them send personnel out on loan, which now includes frustrated midfielder Donny van de Beek.

The Manchester Evening News released details on van de Beek’s loan deal to Everton and confirmed that the Toffees will take on his weekly wage of £120,000 ($160,813) for the rest of the season, with no option to make it into a permanent deal at the end of his loan.

Van de Beek is one of eight players that Manchester United has agreed to loan deals elsewhere, but fans are concerned with how it will impact their depth in each position.

Currently, the list of players that have agreed to loan deals elsewhere are the following:

  1. Anthony Martial (Forward, Sevilla FC)
  2. Donny van de Beek (Midfielder, Everton)
  3. Axel Tuanzebe (Defender, Napoli)
  4. Amad Diallo (Midfielder, Rangers FC)
  5. Teden Mengi (Defender, Birmingham)
  6. Ethan Laird (Defender, Bournemouth)
  7. Matej Kovar (Goalkeeper, Burton Albion)
  8. Reece Devine (Defender, Walsall)

While most players sent out on loan are defenders, losing a player of van de Beek’s caliber for the season in a position bereft of depth seems to be a terrible idea this deep into the season.

Paul Pogba is believed to be playing again very soon, Jesse Lingard remains frustrated, Nemanja Matic is in the twilight of his career, Juan Mata has rarely been seen, and most of those remaining on the squad are lacking reps with the first team.

With Greenwood being suspended for the foreseeable future and Anthony Martial out on loan, the Red Devils’ attacking group has been hit pretty badly, but not as bad as that of the midfielders.

At this point, fans are questioning where their club is headed this season after climbing back to the fourth spot in the English Premier League.

Interim manager Ralf Rangnick may need to mix in some of his youngsters in their match against Middlesbrough in the English FA Cup on Friday, February 4 and there are some names that can make that leap.

Both Hannibal Mejbri and James Garner could make appearances during the match as substitutes for one another, while Anthony Elanga and either Shola Shoretire or Tahith Chong may also take the field at some point.

Understandably, Manchester United’s fans have become displeased with their lack of transfer window acquisitions.

For van de Beek, joining Everton would be a great way for him to get back on form as new manager Frank Lampard has taken on the reins and will surely give him opportunities to succeed.

Manchester United will have to pick up the slack after the transfer deadline as they are on the cusp of securing a berth in the UEFA Champions League for next season and are 19 points behind first-place Manchester City in the English Premier League.

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