Donny van de Beek will be returning to Manchester United after his nightmare Eintracht Frankfurt spell.

The Dutch midfielder joined the Bundesliga side on a loan deal until the end of the campaign in January. There was a £9million option to buy inserted in the deal that took Van de Beek to Germany.

As it stands, it looks like that won’t be activated by Frankfurt. According to reports in Italy, the German side have already decided not to sign him on a permanent deal.

That call is just the latest in a long line of embarrassing moments for Van de Beek in Germany. The midfielder, still just 26, has made just seven appearances for the club this term – four of which have been starts.

He has not completed 90 minutes all season. Van de Beek was also cut from Frankfurt’s Europa Conference League squad by boss Dino Toppmoller.

Explaining that decision at the time, the German said: ”He’s only played a total of four games in the last two years, so it won’t happen overnight. But I have 100 per cent confidence in his quality, he’ll definitely help us in the second half of the season. I told Donny that I was sorry but also what I expected from him now.”

Things then got worse for Van de Beek. After being introduced as a substitute against Bochum in February, he was then taken off just 21 minutes later.

“Unfortunately, I had to replace Donny again,” Toppmoller said. “This is because we knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up the power for 70 minutes.”

Van de Beek will now be on the lookout for a new club once he returns to Old Trafford in the summer. He has just a year left on his Red Devils contract.

Erik ten Hag has previously explained that injuries have contributed to his woes so far. “He has had many injuries, first of all,” he said. “From the first moment I came in here at Manchester United, he wasn’t the player he was at Ajax because he was injured.

“So many times he was not available and then he struggled for a long time to recover from that injury. That is probably the main reason why he was not playing.

“We decided for a loan in the summer but it didn’t come and then his opportunities are few because also we make appointments and we make agreements with players and contract players in that position. The competition was high.” Van de Beek was signed from Ajax for £35m in 2020. He has since made just 62 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring twice.