Real Madrid and Donny van de Beek reportedly agreed to a contract during the winter transfer window for the upcoming summer window, but fans should not expect the center midfielder to join Los Blancos.
Before Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Isco all started clicking together in the Real Madrid midfield, Los Blancos had identified the position as a key in the transfer market. They were linked to players like Christian Eriksen and remain rumored to be interested in Napoli’s rising star Fabian Ruiz.
Furthermore, it was reported that Real Madrid and Ajax had signed a pre-agreed transfer for the summer of 2020 in which Donny van de Beek would join Los Blancos for a cool 55 million euros.
However, it doesn’t look like Madridistas should expect this big-money deal for one of Europe’s best young center midfielders to go through.
According to a report from Mundo Deportivo, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has already rejected two agreed transfers between Real executives and Ajax. He first rejected a van de Beek deal in the summer of 2019 and then again rejected a deal in the winter.
Although van de Beek was worth 55 million euros at the time, Voetbal International brought up the point, via Mundo Deportivo, that he may no longer be worth that much in the summer transfer market due to the fallout of the novel coronavirus.
If that’s the case, then that’s another reason for Real Madrid fans to remove their expectation of an incoming transfer for van de Beek. Initially, it was likely because Zidane preferred Paul Pogba and still thought he could push Florentino Perez to sign him for a high fee (though not quite as high as what Manchester United were asking) despite Fede Valverde’s breakout. And now, the deal may have to be scrapped completely – or perhaps reworked – because the fee may no longer be reasonable.
Van de Beek is a superb player who can score goals, set up chances, work hard in midfield, and provide overall utility to the midfield. He is a leader and a good player to have in the squad, so despite Zidane’s unwillingness to take the deal on, Perez did well to at least leave him open as an option for Los Merengues.
But on the previous subject of Manchester United, they are interested in signing away van de Beek. Although the deal is still in Real’s hands if they want him, Zidane’s reluctance could give the Red Devils an opening. This, in turn, would give Zidane and Real the opportunity to take Pogba, who has long been the French manager’s dream target.