Inside van de Beek's rehab at Carrington

The Netherlands international sustained a knee problem during our 3-0 win over Bournemouth back on 3 January and has been working diligently on his recovery ever since. 

In early April, PLP spent the day with Donny at Carrington and captured footage of the 26-year-old around the training ground, where he's paying close attention to the small details that allow him to make big progress. 

As you can see in the video below, van de Beek begins in the canteen with a hearty breakfast to fuel another day of hard work. “Everything is going up now, I feel much better and I am on a good road now,” he says. “I have to eat a lot of protein as well to recover - I have to eat well for my knee.”

Reflecting on his mentality while injured, Donny continues: “Football is a big part of your life and you enjoy it every day with your team-mates. And if you have to miss that, I try to see it now in a positive way. I am just getting closer every day to being on the pitch again and I can't wait to be back.”

After breakfast, our no.34 moves on to the gym to continue his treatment and an encounter with team-mate Luke Shaw (“It’s good to see you back, man!”) underlines the support he is receiving.  

Van de Beek has been working closely with experienced United physiotherapist John Davin, whom he describes as “a legend here at the club” and the pair clearly have a strong relationship. “How old are you, 25? I started here the year you were born,” laughs John. “That makes you feel old, right?”

Offering an insight into their progress, John tells the camera: “So most of the focus in this period now will be gaining the strength back into his leg. Once we get the strength, then we can work on speed and power.”

We then see van de Beek completing a number of exercises in the gym under John’s supervision and the combative midfielder is encouraged by the state of play. “I can do almost everything already, we are on a good road now, no pain anymore, so this is positive,” he says. 

Then comes the sight that will please every United supporter: Donny kicking a football back and forth, showing off his quick feet in the process.

“It's just where we'd want him to be, to be fair,” reports John. “Not trying to do too much, but enough so he's moved on.

“You're in a good place, the strength is coming. We can work on the strength and, once we get him a bit stronger, we can get him outside, start doing a bit of running, then we'll get the ball more involved, and, once we can do that, then the other guys will take him over and start developing speed and power.

“Hopefully, his football will come back to him, which I'm sure it will.”

To close, van de Beek states: “We will be there soon!”

Keep up the good work, Donny.