“Sad situation…” – INEOS could make decision to terminate Man United star’s contract early

Manchester United’s new co-owners INEOS could decide to terminate the contract of one player early in what has been described as a “sad situation”.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team are preparing for a large change in the summer transfer window, and one of the most important aspects will be player sales.

United have been creeping on the Financial Fair Play line recently and were unable to sign a striker in the January window. Ensuring they get some wages off the books is crucial before they think about major additions.

One player that they hoped could fetch a small transfer fee is Donny van de Beek, who left the club in January on a loan move to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Bundesliga club have the option to buy Van de Beek on a permanent deal for £9.5 million and a further £2.6 million in add-ons.

However, the Dutch midfielder has struggled on loan at the German club, playing only six games, with two of them coming from the bench.

His failure to adapt and impress means that Frankfurt are unlikely to take the option to buy him at the end of the season.

Now, Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport that the midfielder could be released on a free transfer this summer, despite still having a year remaining on his Old Trafford deal. This termination could be done so that additional wages could be taken off the wage bill.

“He is still only 26, so you would like to think this can turnaround, but you get to a stage with a player like this where you have to consider drawing a line under it,” Jones said.

“Van de Beek has one year left at Manchester United, but the fact the loan spell at Frankfurt has failed to ignite any upturn in form or confidence suggests he is not going to be able to level-up to force his way into that team by next season. I doubt even a change of manager is going to change that.

“It is a pretty sad situation because he should have been a good signing. If Frankfurt don’t want to buy him, the options for Manchester United are going to be another loan or a cheap sale elsewhere. At this stage, it might even be a case of agreeing to let him leave for free if it gets him off the wage bill.”

This would be no surprise considering how Ratcliffe has praised Arsenal and Mikel Arteta for their rebuild in recent years. The London based club terminated the deal of Nicolas Pepe a year before it expired so that they could get his wages off the books.