Donny van de Beek, 23, has started just two Premier League games this season and has been completely left out the squad for United’s last three fixtures.

Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Fred and Scott McTominay have all been featuring ahead of him in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s preferred centre-midfield.

And Berbatov is not convinced they are better than Van de Beek.

He told Betfair: “Are all these players better than him? I don’t think so, everybody is different and everyone can bring different qualities to a game. That’s why I’m wondering what is going on.

“I still think he can help the team. The minutes he is getting isn’t enough to build his confidence and integrate him into the team and to get used to the Premier League.

“Sometimes you can be ahead of other players purely based on your name and reputation, this is how unfair it is in football sometimes.”