Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists midfielder Donny van de Beek will play a “big, big part” in his side’s season, despite his lack of playing time thus far.
Van de Beek arrived from Ajax in a deal worth just shy of €40million this summer, but it still yet to make his first Premier League start as Solskjaer has put his faith in the likes of Fred and Scott McTominay.
That has led to question marks over his signing, given United’s obvious need in other areas of the pitch, but on the eve of their Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig, Solskjaer insisted the Dutchman’s time will come.
"When players come into a new league, a new team, it's always going to be a time of (transition)," said the United boss.
"When Donny has played, he's played really well. I think it says a lot about our depth of quality in the squad that we don't have to use him every single game because we have other players as well.
"I also think it says everything about our ambitions, we want to go and push on, we want to go and challenge for trophies this season.
"Donny is going to play a big, big part this year. At the moment, I realise the topic is Donny Van De Beek and it's nice for some players or commentators to have a little go.
"I know that you're short for time when you're on telly and you have to put your points across very quickly, but you have to know that you don't have to start the first three games to be a very important player in the squad.
"I would be disappointed if some of my team-mates said that I wasn't important at Man United but I didn't start many games, so Donny's going to be very, very important for us, don't worry about that."
Solskjaer's selections in terms of personnel and system will be interesting against RB Leipzig as United look to build on last week's impressive Champions League win at Paris St Germain.
Read More
Die Roten Bullen have risen remarkably since their controversial formation in 2009, with the side reaching last season's Champions League semi-finals and currently top of the Bundesliga standings.
Julian Nagelsmann's side may be widely disliked but they boast some outstanding talents, including French defender Dayot Upamecano - the 22-year-old strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford over the summer.
"There's always rumours and speculation about good players for Manchester United," Solskjaer said of the centre-back ahead of Wednesday's Group H encounter.
"I've always tried to respect that they are players for other teams and don't want to comment on every player that we are linked to.
"But since he's playing against us tomorrow, I know he's a very good player so we can see him close up tomorrow."
Additional reporting by PA.