Donny van de Beek had risked becoming the forgotten man at Manchester United after a debut season in which he started just four Premier League games.
The 24-year-old was a peripheral figure throughout the campaign at Old Trafford following his £34million move from Ajax a year ago with doubts over his future at the club.
A tough campaign for the Dutch midfielder was summed up by suffering an injury on the eve of Euro 2020, ruling him out of the tournament.
After taking a brief holiday and recovering from injury, van de Beek has undergone an intense fitness and nutritional regime that has seen him feature in pre-season in top shape.
Van de Beek captained United in the closing stages of their recent friendly against Brentford and was a standout performer in Saturday’s four-goal win over Everton.
The Dutchman has looked leaner, fitter and stronger - the result of his work alongside sports physiotherapist Sjoerd Sluijs, whom he trained under for weeks at the FysioConcept centre in Amsterdam.
As outlined by a report in The Telegraph, van de Beek trained under Sluijs for between four and five days per week from late June to help him reach top shape.
Van de Beek was put through his paces with a one-hour intensive gym session which focused on resistance workouts with weights to improve the player’s strength, balance and agility.
Sluijs - who previously worked on Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s rehabilitation from an anterior cruciate ligament injury - remained in close contact with United head of performance Richard Hawkins, doctor Steve McNally and head physio Robin Sadler.
The former Ajax man now looks to be in top shape ahead of the new season where he is looking to storm into United’s strongest line-up.
“He’s put on a bit of muscle,” United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said of the midfielder. “He’d had last season to learn about English football and he’s used the summer well.
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“You never know how players from abroad come in. Some players need a year. You see Fred’s development but there are other players that just come in and take to it straight away. It depends.
“The Premier League is such a fantastic league and the intensity of it is unbelievable. You have Manchester City against Chelsea in the Champions League final, you have Liverpool, who have been amazing the last few seasons, that’s the competition to win the league.
“We lost to Sheffield United [in January], who were bottom of the league. Any game in the Premier League is not a given at all.”
Van de Beek may fit into a new-look United midfield, with Solskjaer hopeful of going for a more attacking outlook and to abandon the two holding midfielders, often with Fred partnering Scott McTominay.
Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba are among the more attacking options in midfield, but if United do opt to play two players in the ‘number 8’ role then van de Beek’s hard work is likely to pay off.
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