Manchester United's $48M Star Wants To Join Everton, Solskjaer Blocks Move: Report

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly blocked midfielder Donny van de Beek's last-minute move to Everton before the 2021 summer transfer window ended Tuesday.

Everton made a late attempt to sign van de Beek on a loan basis and the Dutch midfielder was also open to a move to Merseyside, reported Netherlands-based media outlet Soccer News. While the deal was progressing in the right direction, Solskjaer intervened at the last moment to retain van de Beek at least until the next winter window.

Van de Beek made a $48 million move from Ajax to Manchester United in the summer of 2020 but since then, he has struggled to find sufficient game time with the first team. Back in January, Solskjaer had even admitted that van de Beek was unhappy with the lack of game time but it looks like the boss is not ready to part ways with the midfielder as yet.

It is understood that van de Beek is competing with Manchester United stars Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes and it won't be an easy task to displace either of the midfielders in Solskjaer's team. In the whole of 2021-22 season, which was his maiden season at Old Trafford, van de Beek made only 36 appearances for the Red Devils while he only made four starts in the whole of Premier League campaign, where Manchester United finished second, 12 points behind winners Manchester City.

The player's agent, Guido Albers, spoke to Dutch media to vent his frustrations after Manchester United blocked his client's move.

"Manchester United are holding everything back. Disappointing that United are not cooperating, "he told Voetbal International.

Manchester United have had a busy 2021 summer transfer window, having made a few significant signings, including the sensational return of Cristiano Ronaldo. The former Real Madrid superstar, who spent six years at Old Trafford earlier in his career, recently moved from Juventus to Manchester on a two-year contract. Solskjaer also secured his long-term target Sancho after chasing him for over a year at $100 million from Dortmund. The Red Devils also landed Raphael Varane, who spent a decade at Real Madrid.

While Manchester United have played three matches in the underway 2021-22 campaign, van de Beek is yet to make his first appearance of the season.