The Dutchman is on the brink of a move to Old Trafford but has been told his new surroundings will take some getting used to
Donny van de Beek will have mentally adjust to playing for a club the size of Manchester United, says former Red Devils striker Robin van Persie.
Van de Beek is expected to be confirmed as a United player imminently after the club agreed a fee in the region of £40 million ($53m) for 23-year-old Netherlands international.
Van Persie knows all about making the jump from the Eredivisie to the Premier League having moved to Arsenal from Feyenoord as a 20-year-old in 2004.
Eight years later he made the move to Old Trafford, helping the side lift the Premier League title in what turned out to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge of the club in 2012-13.
Van Persie has drawn on those experiences to warn Van de Beek about the challenges involved in making such a high-profile transfer.
Though he has every confidence in his compatriot being a success, he says playing for Manchester United will be completely different to what Van de Beek has experienced so far in his career, both on and off the pitch.
“Donny van de Beek is 23-years-old and that is a nice age to make a transfer to the Premier League,” Van Persie wrote in a column for De Telegraaf.
“I was a bit younger when I went to Arsenal, and in the locker room, I was considered a player for the future. Winning the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord meant nothing. The Premier League is a completely different world.
“Donny will be brought in as a major purchase from Manchester United, but he will discover that those other 22 players have also been brought in as a ‘major purchase’. One with an even bigger transfer [fee] than the other.
“It means that he has to stand there right away and he has to mentally adjust to that. Because Manchester United is in every way a beast of a club.
“The size of Manchester United also has an impact on the commercial activities expected of Donny in the future.
“In my first year at United that number was zero, in my last year I had to show up every week.
“When I was with Marcus Rashford recently, I asked him how often he has to do something commercial now. He couldn’t remember the last afternoon off after a workout.
“That is a bit different than taking a siesta after a training.”
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