Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince has accused Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of “blatantly lying” to Donny van de Beek about playing time at Old Trafford.
The 24-year-old Dutchman has seriously struggled for significant playing time since trading Ajax for Man Utd last summer, featuring just 19 times in the Premier League during his maiden season (with four starts) and racking up only five minutes of top-flight action this term.
It was revealed just last month by Van de Beek’s agent Guido Albers that Man Utd refused to sanction his client’s departure in the summer amid interest from Italy, Germany and England, as the club “promised” him game time for the upcoming campaign.
However, the midfielder continues to sit on the periphery of first team action, and was recently caught on camera expressing visible frustration after he was overlooked by Solskjaer as Man Utd prepared a double substitution in the 2-1 win over Villarreal.
Weighing in on the debate, Ince has now accused Solskjaer of “blatantly lying” to Van de Beek with regards to playing time, telling the Kelly and Wrighty Show: “If I’m going to buy a player, a top player from Ajax, the first thing I’m going to say is, ‘Am I going to play? Where do you see me fitting in, within the system, within the team?’
“As a manager you have two choices – you can either tell the truth or not tell the truth. From what I’m seeing for the last year and a half, he’s not told Donny the truth, he hasn’t had any game time. He’s got £35 million sitting on the bench.
“I can hold my hands up if I’m on the bench and the team are winning and playing well. You can’t tell me that Fred and [Scott] McTominay are playing well week in and week out, and even [Paul] Pogba because they’re not.
“But he seems to play them all the time, and I’m sitting there watching them play, I would be livid.
“He’s been professional, he’s done everything by the book. Ole’s come out saying he’s in my plans, obviously he’s just blatantly lying, he has to move in January for the good of his career.”