.jpg) Van de Beek playing forManchester United in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Donny van de Beek[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1997-04-18)18 April 1997 (age 27)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nijkerkerveen, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Girona | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Veensche Boys | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2015 | Ajax | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Jong Ajax | 35 | (8) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2020 | Ajax | 118 | (28) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2024 | Manchester United | 35 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | →Everton (loan) | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | →Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Girona | 22 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Netherlands U17 | 16 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Netherlands U19 | 20 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Netherlands U20 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Netherlands U21 | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2021 | Netherlands | 19 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 March 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Donny van de Beek (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈdɔnivɑndəˈbeːk]; born 18 April 1997) is a Dutch professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder forLa Liga clubGirona.
In youth international football, Van de Beek made more than 40 appearances for the Netherlands fromunder-17 tounder-21 level. In November 2017, he made his senior international debut againstRomania. In 2019, he was part of thesquad that reached the first everUEFA Nations League final, but lost toPortugal.
Van de Beek was born inNijkerkerveen.[4][5] His parents are André and Gerdina van de Beek.[6] André is a supporter ofAjax and took Donny to their stadium at the age of five.[7] Donny's younger brother Rody played for Veensche Boys.[8]
Van de Beek began his career as a boy with the local Veensche Boys' academy where his father, André, once played.[7] In August 2014, he joined theAjax youth academy signing a three-year contract,[9] and was assigned to the D-team. He progressed further through the academy and featured in the A1 team Supercup victory against theFeyenoord A1 team.[10] On 27 January 2015, he signed a contract extension, to keep him at the club until mid-2018.[11]
Van de Beek made his debut forJong Ajax (the Ajax reserve team) in theEerste Divisie againstSparta Rotterdam in January 2015.[12] Two months later, managerFrank de Boer called him to the senior team for a league match againstADO Den Haag as an injury replacement.[13] However, he was an unused substitute in that match.[14] At the end of the 2014–15 season, he won theAjax Talent of the Future award.[15]
In November 2015, Van de Beek was called to the senior team for aUEFA Europa League match against Scottish clubCeltic.[16] He made his European debut in the match, which Ajax won 2–1.[17] He termed his debut as "beautiful" and added: "I have taken my duels well. It was of course difficult because the game went back and forth continuously. But I think I did fine."[17] Three days later, Van de Beek made his first team debut in a 2–0 league victory againstPEC Zwolle.[18] In the following month, he scored his first goal for Ajax in a 1–1 draw against Norwegian clubMolde.[19] As he scored the goal, his head collided with opposition playerJoona Toivio's causing his left eyebrow to bleed.[20] Commenting on the goal, he said that he would not soon forget it.[21] The goal also won him the club's Goal of the Month award.[22]
Voetbal International reported in January 2016 that manager De Boer was impressed by Van de Beek and said he would continue to play with the first team "until further notice".[23] After the departures ofJohn Heitinga andYaya Sanogo, he was officially promoted to the first team on 16 February.[24] Media reports in March suggested that German clubBayern Munich was interested in signing him.[25] By the end of the 2015–16 season, he cemented his position with the first team, and was also playing regularly for the Ajax under-19 team in theUEFA Youth League.[14][26] Spanish newspaperMundo Deportivo reported thatBarcelona was considering options to secure his services.[26]
At the beginning of the 2016–17 season, new managerPeter Bosz included Van de Beek in the Ajax squad for theUEFA Champions League qualification match against Greek clubPAOK for a couple of reasons: Bosz was impressed by Van de Beek's performance during pre-season friendlies in Austria,Riechedly Bazoer was injured andNemanja Gudelj was suspended.[27][28] On 26 July, he made his Champions League debut against PAOK, starting in the 1–1 draw.[14][29] While playing for the reserves during the season he andAbdelhak Nouri were the only players who were given more than a 7.0 rating on average byVoetbal International.[30] In November, he was included in the Europa League Team of the Week for his performance againstPanathinaikos. He was a part of a midfield trio with Nouri andLasse Schöne.[31] Van de Beek replaced Schöne in the 70th minute of theEuropa League final againstManchester United, with Ajax losing the match 2–0.[32]
Commenting on Van de Beek's 2017–18 pre-season matches, the Dutch newspaperAlgemeen Dagblad wrote that he had successfully filled the void created by the departure ofDavy Klaassen who had recently moved to English clubEverton.[33] In October, English clubTottenham Hotspur scouted him in the Netherlands.[34] He scored a goal in both legs of the Champions League qualifier against French clubNice. In the first leg, he scored an equaliser in the 36th minute of the 1–1 draw; taking an advantage of an error made by opposition goalkeeperYoan Cardinale.[35] In the second leg, he found the net in the first half of the 2–2 draw.[36] On 18 November, Van de Beek scored a hat-trick in an 8–0 league victory againstNAC Breda.[37] AjaxcaptainJoël Veltman hailed the feat as "extra nice".[38] He featured 34 times in the league and scored eleven times, besides adding six assists. In July 2018, he rejected an offer made by Italian clubRoma citing that "Ajax is the right place for his development".[39]
Van de Beek played a pivotal role as the attacking midfielder for Ajax in the 2018–19 season, starting almost every match in all competitions, as the team won their first league title in five years and surprisingly reached the semi-finals of the2018–19 UEFA Champions League. Van de Beek scored againstJuventus on 16 April in the second leg of the quarter-final to help his team knock out the Italian champion with a 3–2 win on aggregate. On 7 May, he scored against Tottenham in the first leg of the semi−final, which resulted in a 1–0 away victory for Ajax. However, Ajax did not manage to advance to the final, losing the tie on away goals after a 2–3 defeat at home in the second leg. In the 2019–20 Champions League season, Van de Beek scored againstValencia in a 3–0 away win, andChelsea in a 4–4 draw; however, Ajax lost 1–0 at home to Valencia to be eliminated from the group stage.[40]
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On 30 August 2020, Ajax reached an agreement with EnglishPremier League club Manchester United for the transfer of Van de Beek.[41] The transfer was completed three days later with Van de Beek signing a five-year contract for a reported £35 million plus £5 million in add-ons.[42][43] Van de Beek chose to wear the number 34 jersey as a tribute to former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri, who collapsed during a friendly in 2017 and went into an induced coma.[44] Van de Beek had little involvement during his first season at Manchester United, starting only four Premier League matches.[14][45] He made his unofficial debut in a friendly againstAston Villa on 12 September, before making his competitive debut as a substitute in the club's opening Premier League fixture at home toCrystal Palace on 19 September; he scored United's only goal in a 3–1 defeat.[46]
In his second season, he did not start in the Premier League at all, although he did get a few starts in theChampions League and theEFL Cup. In what turned out to be managerOle Gunnar Solskjaer's final match, a 4–1 loss at Watford on 20 November 2021, Van de Beek was subbed in for only the third time in twelve Premier League matches, scoring his second and last Premier League goal for the club. Matters did not improve: in the ten Premier League matches under replacement managersMichael Carrick andRalf Rangnick, Van de Beek totalled only 9 minutes of playing time.[47]
On 31 January 2022, Van de Beek was loaned out to Premier League clubEverton until the end of the2021–22 season.[48][49] He made his debut for Everton in a 3–1 defeat atNewcastle United on 8 February 2022.[50] He started five of the first six matches, but after that his stint at the club was marred by persistent thigh injuries and he only again played in the last Premier League match of the season, a 5–1 defeat againstArsenal; Van de Beek scored the Everton goal.[51]
Following his return to Manchester United from his brief loan, Van de Beek continued to have very limited playing time even under former manager,Erik ten Hag, in the2022–23 season. In January 2023, he suffered a knee injury in a 3–0 win overBournemouth that ruled him out for the rest of the season.[52] Van de Beek was offered to other clubs by Manchester United, however following concrete talks on the summer transfer deadline day,Ligue 1 clubLorient decided not to complete a loan move for him.[53] A few days later, he was excluded from the Champions League squad for the2023–24 season.[54]
On 1 January 2024, Manchester United sent Van de Beek on loan toBundesliga clubEintracht Frankfurt until the end of the2023–24 season.[55] The deal included an option-to-buy, reported to be of €11 million, which could have risen to €14 million with add-ons.[56]
On 11 July 2024, Van de Beek signed forLa Liga clubGirona after an agreement with Manchester United was reached. The deal included an initial transfer fee of €500,000, which could later rise to €9.1million due to various additional bonuses and a sell-on fee.[57]
Van de Beek played youth international football for the Netherlands atunder-17,[58]under-19,[59]under-20[60][61] andunder-21 levels.[62] On 11 September 2013, Van de Beek made his debut for the under-17 team againstGermany.[58] He was part of the squad that managed to reach the final of the2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship after defeatingScotland in the semi-final.[63] However, they finished runners-up toEngland.[64]
On 14 November 2017, Van de Beek made hissenior international debut againstRomania in a friendly match.[65] He appeared in both games in the2019 UEFA Nations League Finals as a substitute, as the Netherlands defeatedEngland 3–1 but lost toPortugal in the final 1–0.[66][67] He scored his first international goal on 14 October 2020 in a 1–1 away draw againstItaly in theUEFA Nations League.[68]
On 8 June 2021, Van De Beek was forced to withdraw from the Netherlands' squad for the Euro 2020 tournament just days before the tournament got under way. It was disclosed by the Dutch FA that Van de Beek had been battling through injury and as a result, he had trained away from the main squad. It was confirmed that he could not recover in time and would withdraw from the Netherlands' squad entirely.[69]
A tactically versatile and hard-working player, Van de Beek is capable of playing anywhere in midfield. At Ajax, Van de Beek played mainly as acentral or anattacking midfielder but can also play as adefensive midfielder.[70] The Spanish newspaperMundo Deportivo writes that he plays a more offensive role compared to his counterparts on other teams.[71]Goal.com described Van de Beek as a player who has "excellent control and a great eye for a pass as he links up with the attack and is dangerous as he makes runs into the box".[72] While playing for the Ajax academy, he was compared withDavy Klaassen. However, Van de Beek rejected the comparison and said that he was a player who wanted to keep the ball at his feet.[10] Former Ajax captainJoël Veltman described Van de Beek as a player who "works very hard and can play between the lines".[38]
Van de Beek is in a relationship with Estelle Bergkamp, the eldest daughter of formerArsenal playerDennis Bergkamp. The couple's first child, a daughter, was born in April 2022. Their second child, a son, was born in February 2024.[73][74]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Jong Ajax | 2014–15[14] | Eerste Divisie | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2015–16[14] | Eerste Divisie | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 2 | |||||
| 2016–17[14] | Eerste Divisie | 16 | 6 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 6 | |||||
| Total | 35 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 8 | ||
| Ajax | 2015–16[14] | Eredivisie | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 1 | — | 10 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17[14] | Eredivisie | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 11[b] | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18[14] | Eredivisie | 34 | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[c] | 2 | — | 39 | 13 | |||
| 2018–19[14] | Eredivisie | 34 | 9 | 5 | 4 | — | 18[d] | 4 | — | 57 | 17 | |||
| 2019–20[14] | Eredivisie | 23 | 8 | 3 | 0 | — | 10[e] | 2 | 1[f] | 0 | 37 | 10 | ||
| Total | 118 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 175 | 41 | ||
| Manchester United | 2020–21[75] | Premier League | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9[g] | 0 | — | 36 | 1 | |
| 2021–22[76] | Premier League | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | — | 14 | 1 | ||
| 2022–23[77] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24[78] | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 35 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 2 | ||
| Everton (loan) | 2021–22[76] | Premier League | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | ||||
| Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) | 2023–24[78] | Bundesliga | 8 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| Girona | 2024–25[79] | La Liga | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 7[d] | 1 | — | 31 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 225 | 41 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 67 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 318 | 55 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | |||
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | |
| Total | 19 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 October 2020 | Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia,Bergamo, Italy | 14 |  Italy | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A | [81] |
| 2 | 11 November 2020 | Johan Cruyff Arena,Amsterdam, Netherlands | 15 |  Spain | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | [82] |
| 3 | 30 March 2021 | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar | 19 |  Gibraltar | 6–0 | 7–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | [83] |
Ajax
Manchester United
Netherlands U17
Individual
