Van de Beek’s miserable spell at Old Trafford came to an end in July, with the Dutch midfielder joining Girona on a four-year deal for less than £500,000.
Manchester United spent £40m to sign Van de Beek in 2020 but he flopped in England, making just 42 Premier League appearances.
Ten Hag had high hopes for Van de Beek after managing the 27-year-old at his former club Ajax, but United were forced to take a huge loss on the player.
Van de Beek believes he made an encouraging start to his Red Devils career but admits things ‘did not click’ for him at Old Trafford.
Reflecting on his Manchester United career, Van de Beek told The Athletic: ‘I don’t know. I think the start was quite good.
‘When I played, I think in the start of the season, I did well, and then for different reasons… I don’t know exactly but I didn’t play.
‘It’s difficult to get to the heart of the painful spot, but that’s what it is. I think that this can happen.
‘In some places, it’s clicking but sometimes, in other situations, it’s not. I think it’s for different reasons. But it’s also football.’
Van de Beek also says he was ‘unlucky’ with injuries during his stint at Manchester United and admits it was ‘difficult’ for him on the sidelines.
‘I think it was quite unlucky because I played some more games, especially closer to the winter, and then I got injured [in January 2023],’ he added.
‘That was not easy. It was very bad timing. If you start to play a little bit more, then you can get the rhythm of everything.
‘But that injury arrived, you need to restart again, you need to come up. There are new players coming in, and you start from the backseat again. It’s difficult.
‘I would say this was a key moment for me at Manchester United. In this period normally when you play, you get stronger and better. But I got this injury. That was tough.’
Asked how his relationship with Ten Hag changed from their days together at Ajax, Van de Been said: ‘I don’t know… I think it’s difficult. Should we move on to the next subject?’
Van de Beek will look to revive his career at Girona, who finished third in La Liga last season to qualify for the Champions League.
Discussing the start to his career at Girona, Van de Beek said: ‘Very good. It’s a very nice club with good people, nice team-mates.
‘We have a lot of new players, so we are still building up a thing. But we can see that we’re growing.
‘I spoke with Daley (Blind) and with people from the club such as (sporting director) Quique Carcel and (chairman) Pere Guardiola before coming here.
‘They told me about the project, how they want to work and play, and I was convinced quite early in the transfer window.
‘In fact, we spoke already last January to join the club. In the end it didn’t happen, but I have been following them a lot since then.’
Van de Beek’s former club Manchester United have endured a poor start to the 2024-25 season and are just 14th in the table ahead of Saturday’s game against Brentford.
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