Donny van de Beek will push to leave Manchester United if his game-time doesn't improve in the coming months, according to reports. The 24-year-old midfielder is unhappy with his current role at Old Trafford and could depart in search of regular minutes as early as January.
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Solskjaer has regularly insisted that Van de Beek is firmly in his plans at Old Trafford and suggests that the Dutchman knows what he has to work on to put him in good stead for more minutes.
He told reporters: "He knows he is not frozen out. It's Man United, and when a headline player is not playing for Man United, it is always going to make headlines.
"I've got plenty of them every week that don't play, so I don't have any issues with Donny; he knows what he needs to work on, what we want him to work on.
"He is diligent in his work, and he has never ever let his mood affect his team and teammates negatively. You have to have that fire in your belly if you're going to make it."
Van de Beek cut a frustrating figure after Solskjaer left him on the bench against Villarreal last week, angrily throwing his gum on the floor after returning to the dug-out from his warm-up.
Solskjaer joked that he simply took a page out of prolific gum-chewer Sir Alex Ferguson's book.
"I was taught as a kid to never swallow chewing gum, so he's probably followed the gaffer's lead and thrown it out," Solskjaer added.
"Absolutely no worries about that. What are you supposed to do, hand it to someone else?
"I was a sub more than anyone in this club.I've been not very happy a few times but that's just the decision the manager makes."