£35m Donny van de Beek’s next transfer decision is obvious amid Wolves, Crystal Palace, and Nottingham Forest interest

I have a suspicion that Donny van de Beek might never leave Old Trafford, or at least, not properly. That’s not to say that the one-time Ajax prospect will ever undergo some kind of near-epiphanic transformation in fortunes, where his merits are suddenly recognised and appreciated enough to be translated into frequent playing opportunities, but rather that I could quite easily envisage a scenario, say 50 years from now, where Manchester United bid a teary farewell to the derelict husk of what was once their palatial fortress and quite simply forget to take the midfielder with them. Think ‘Home Alone remake with a 76-year-old Dutchman’ and you’d be part way there.

We have the power to alter our cosmic fates, however. The sooner Van de Beek stumbles across the realisation that he is not doomed to a life of warming benches and gnawing on stolen chicken bones from the club canteen in his cosy little broom closet beneath the Stretford End, the sooner he can begin the process of rekindling a career that still has much to offer.

It’s no secret that the 26-year-old has struggled to register any kind of meaningful impact during his stilted stint in England. It is, after all, hard to be a playmaker when nobody is letting you play. Signed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the September of 2020, Van de Beek has featured just 60 times for United in the period since, scoring twice and assisting two more. He has been dogged by injuries, regularly finds himself shrouded by the presence of the talismanic Bruno Fernandes, and even endured that most inauspicious of probations, a loan spell with Everton.

To compound matters further, United have just gone and splurged upwards of £60 million on a deal for Mason Mount, and suddenly any dim hopes of Van de Beek jimmying his way into Erik ten Hag’s affections have been flattened like a sandcastle under a hiking boot. It is time for the Dutchman to move on, or he risks lurking the corridors of Carrington without purpose forevermore, haunting the place like a forgettable Scooby Doo ghost.

If there is a glimmer of salvation, it is that Van de Beek seemingly has no shortage of likely suitors this summer. According to a recent report from 90min, the player is attracting interest from both the continent and the Premier League, with Serie A giants AS Roma, Inter, and AC Milan keeping tabs alongside the likes of Sevilla, OGC Nice, Celtic, Feyenoord, and more closely to home Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, and Wolves. In short, he still possesses a popularity that vastly belies his enforced invisibility.

Of those options, it would be of no surprise to see Van de Beek return to mainland Europe. The English game has not been kind to him, and nobody could blame the midfielder for wanting a fresh start in a new country. But if he were to be bold (or self-flagellant, depending on your perspective) and stay put in the Premier League, Donny and his representatives could do far worse than contacting Wolves.

Last season was something of a damp squib at Molineux, a slow burn that for the longest time looked as if it might not ignite at all. Eventually, with the arrival of Julen Lopetegui - a man who bears more than a passing resemblance to the king lemur from Madagascar, for my money - the good times started to peak their head around the corner once more. Turns out the Spaniard likes to move it, move it up the Premier League standings (deepest apologies), and eventually Wanderers were able to settle into the snug obscurity of mid-table nothingness.

Next term, they will be hoping to build on the positive momentum that Lopetegui has started to accrue, but the significance of astute recruitment in the coming weeks cannot be overstated, especially given the departure of Iberian linchpin Ruben Neves for the arid - both meteorologically and morally - climes of the Saudi Pro League.

A suitable replacement is an absolute necessity, and while Van de Beek might inspire a certain amount of scepticism given his time at Old Trafford, if Wolves were to find a way of getting the best out of him once more, they could pilfer themselves a real asset.

In his final campaign with Ajax, for instance, Van de Beek recorded twice as many key passes as Neves did last season, as well as scoring more goals, completing more successful dribbles, and fairing comparatively okay in other key areas like tackles made and pass completion rate too, according to the lab rats at Whoscored.

You see, good footballers don’t become bad footballers overnight, or even over the course of three miserable years in the doldrums. Now in his mid-20s, Van de Beek is still the same talent who helped drag Ajax to a Champions League semi-final, and who convinced one of the biggest clubs in world football to cough up £35 million for his services. Since then, he has battled setback after setback, and been improperly utilised by a series of managers who seemingly had no notion as to how exactly he was supposed to fit into their respective tactical visions.

What he needs is some trust. What he needs is an extended opportunity to prove his worth in a team who are moving in a positive direction. What he needs is a second chance. Whether it is on loan, or the permanent deal that United are understood to prefer, Wolves could offer him all of those things.

Were it to materialise, this could be an arrangement that is massively and mutually beneficial to both Wanderers and the Dutchman himself.