Donny van de Beek may still be able to leave Manchester United in January... but not to a Premier League rival.
As exclusively revealed by Mirror Football earlier this month, the midfielder's long-term agent Guido Albers is refusing to release him from their binding contract.
Van de Beek joined rival adviser Ali Dursan in October to try to find a way out of his Old Trafford nightmare.
The 24-year-old has made just four league starts since joining United from Ajax 16 months ago.
Van de Beek cannot secure a Premier League move without Albers' permission, potentially leaving him sat on United's bench for the rest of the season.
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According to journalist Jonathan Shrager, however, a loophole in the agreement will allow him to sign for a foreign club in January.
Albers' contract reportedly covers just the UK and not worldwide, allowing Van de Beek's new agent Dursan to negotiate with some of Europe's finest clubs.
But it's believed Van de Beek isn't pushing for a move away from Old Trafford at this moment in time, as recently revealed by manager Ralf Rangnick.
"So far as I have got to know him he’s got a top mentality, he works hard in every training session," said United's interim boss.
"He’s a team player through and through and there will be games where he will get his chance to play I’m sure.
"I also had a longer conversation with him last week about that and of course it’s difficult for him right now because he also wants to play for the Dutch national team.
"He wants to play in the World Cup in Qatar and in order to do that he needs to get game-time here.
"But I still believe that we should keep him, that he should stay here, definitely until the end of this season and try to get as much game-time as he possibly can."
Although Van de Beek's loophole is good news for foreign suitors, it's bad news for Premier League strugglers Newcastle.
The Toon are believed to be interested in signing him in January and will hope Albers approves a deal.
Speaking about transfers in December, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said: "Wait and see, I can’t give you promises on that at the moment.
"As I’ve said before, there’s people above me who are working and looking at that. My focus is the team. A lot of games coming up and that is where it has to be.
"But we’ll wait and see. January, as I said many many times, is notoriously difficult to predict and to have a clear plan at this moment is still virtually impossible because there’s twists and turns to come.
"The group of players we have here is my and has been my main focus, will continue to be my main focus because as you say, getting the best out of every single one of those players is the key to us staying up."
