'Players always want to play games' - Van de Beek addresses lack of regular minutes at Man Utd

Donny van de Beek has addressed a lack of regular minutes at Manchester United, admitting that "players always want to play games".

Van de Beek completed a £35 million ($45m) switch to Old Trafford from Ajax on September 2, having enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence under Erik ten Hag at Johan Cruyff ArenA.

Real Madrid were also reportedly eager to bring in the 23-year-old, but United ultimately convinced him to continue his development in Manchester.

However, Van de Beek has found himself on the fringes of the action at the start of his career with the Red Devils, and is still waiting for his first Premier League start.

Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba have enjoyed prominent roles ahead of the Dutchman in recent weeks, but he was included in Solskjaer's first XI for a Champions League clash with RB Leipzig in midweek.

The ex-Ajax star played 68 minutes of the 5-0 victory, and is now hoping to build up some momentum as the fixture list begins to pile up for United, with a huge showdown against Arsenal up next on Sunday.

“Players always want to play games. Training is also nice, but the games... this is why you're playing football,” Van de Beek told the club's official website.

“I think a lot of games [means] we can improve always and I am sure that we will win more if we stay focused.

“Arsenal have showed that they have really good players and we need to be focused. We won [against RB Leipzig] and everybody's happy and it's good for the confidence and everything, but now we must go on to that game [on Sunday].

“A lot of big games are coming up now. A lot of games. We need to stay focused and then I'm sure that we'll make more nice wins.”

Van de Beek went on to talk up the talents of Marcus Rashford, who scored a stunning 18-minute hat-trick against Leipzig after coming on as a second-half substitute at Old Trafford. 

“He's an amazing player. I see already from day one [and] the moment that I arrived here his quality - and he's also a really good guy,” he said.

“He’s always working hard and [is] really talented. I like him also a person and I'm really happy for him. He's already a big player and will show a lot more of his quality. I'm sure about that.”

After United's latest home fixture against Arsenal, their focus will switch to another European encounter away at Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday night.