Fenerbahce and Galatasaray were the favourites to snap him up ahead of this season but despite the Turkish transfer window running two weeks longer than England’s a deal couldn’t be struck. Van de Beek has only featured twice for United this season, once in the Premier League and once in the League Cup, while the Dutchman has made just 62 appearances across three and half seasons at the club.

When Ole Gunnar Solksjaer signed Van de Beek from Ajax for £40million in 2020 there was a great deal of excitement surrounding his arrival but he has since slipped further and further down the pecking order over the years.

According to Spanish outlet SPORT, Van de Beek is now taking his future into his own hands by ‘offering himself’ to Barca. The La Liga outfit are in need of a midfielder after Gavi suffered a serious knee injury during the last international break that will rule him out of action for the rest of the 2023/2024 campaign.

Donny van de Beek has ‘offered himself’ to Barcelona (Image: Getty)

Van de Beek only has eighteen months remaining on his contract with the 13-time Premier League winners so would prove to be an affordable option for the cash-strapped Catalonians. The 26-year-old may not be the only one departing Old Trafford in the New Year though.

A wave of exits are anticipated after reports emerged last week suggesting that Ten Hag has lost elements of the United dressing room. According to Sky Sports, half of United’s squad have turned against their manager due to his refusal to act on his players’ grievances.

Erik ten Hag must get the dressing room back on side (Image: Getty)

Ten Hag’s stand-off with Jadon Sancho is said to be among the biggest concerns. Sancho hasn’t played for United since August after he was exiled from the first team following a social media bust-up with the Red Devils boss.

The Englishman is a popular member of the dressing room and there are multiple players said to be unhappy with Ten Hag’s treatment of the former Borussia Dortmund star. With Sir Jim Ratcliffe set to take over footballing operations at the club in the coming months, the pressure is mounting on Ten Hag to turn things around both on and off the field.