Donny van de Beek has picked his Manchester United five-a-side team and left out some big names.
The midfielder is yet to play a single minute for the Red Devils this season and was left out of the latest Netherlands squad by Louis van Gaal, leading to fears this term could replicate his first campaign in the Premier League, where he made just four starts.
Having rarely featured in the big games, van de Beek's time with United's stars has been relative short, but training with them every day will give him a good indication of their quality.
With teammates such as Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo to choose from, the 24-year-old is not short of options.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel, FIVE, van de Beek was asked to name his five-a-side team of Red Devils players.
"That’s a good question. I think I would pick Raphael [Varane]. I am a big fan of Juan [Mata] as well," the Dutchman stated.
"You have to pick Bruno [Fernandes], because he scores a lot of goals and a lot of assists. I would go for Luke Shaw, and Nemanja Matic as well.
So Varane, Shaw, Matic, Mata and Fernandes - a relatively conservative group compared to what many would have chosen, but van de Beek explained his reasoning.
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"I think this team would win," affirmed the ex-Ajax starlet. "We have so many players, I have to make a tactical decision –the best players don’t always win, the team wins."
van de Beek's agent has recently made headlines by claiming manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer blocked a late transfer to Everton on deadline day, which would have been a loan move to Merseyside.
Guido Albers told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport : "Cristiano arrived on Friday which we knew was bad news for us.
"Pogba plays on the left, and with Cristiano’s arrival it means another extra player in midfield with Pogba moving away from the left."
The agent added: "We had conversations with Solskjaer and the board. We took the initiative to find a club and our search ended up at Everton. We opened talks with Marcel Brands and Farhad Moshiri.
"On Monday night [prior to deadline day], we received a call from Solskjaer and the club who told us that a transfer was out of the question and that he had to report himself to training the next morning."
van de Beek has now responded to the speculation by telling Ferdinand and his co-hosts: "I speak with the manager about it and the club.
"They were clear they wanted me to stay here. The manager was really positive about me and he said; 'I need you and I want to keep you here'.
Asked about his struggles for minutes, he went on to admit: "You can never promise that [game time]. This is football and I think you can never promise a player if he will play - or not.”
"You can train every day hard, but in the end you need game time to show your best shape," van de Beek explained.
"If you play once in a month or anything, you cannot show your best."
