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Donny van de Beek returns to Manchester United from international week having scored for the Netherlands, and for that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be pleased.

Gratification is tempered though. Van de Beek’s goal came as the sixth of seven against a Gibraltar side fortunate to escape a double-digit beating and his total number of minutes under Frank de Boer this break was 24, through two substitute appearances.

De Boer did not turn to Van de Beek at all during the 4-2 defeat by Turkey in his team’s opening World Cup qualifier, which struck as significant for a player who has scored against Spain and Italy this season.

Instead, De Boer sent on Davy Klaassen as one of five replacements in Istanbul. Klaassen, who knows what it is like to move from Ajax to the Premier League and struggle, having left Everton after one season, scored a goal that momentarily brought his country back into the match.

It was Klaassen, 28, who then started against Latvia and Gibraltar, with Van de Beek, who turns 24 on April 18, twice coming on as his late replacement.

It is tough to judge much against a team ranked 195th in the world, but Van de Beek at least used what time he had to useful effect against Gibraltar. He began his cameo by picking up possession as the deepest Dutch outfield player and getting into attack as the move progressed, firing a good cross from inside the box.

His goal was a similar example of smart movement. He timed his run into the area and when the ball fell his way as Memphis Depay missed Owen Wijndal’s chip, he hit a first-time left-footed finish from close range. It called to mind the instant snapshot from his United debut against Crystal Palace, his only goal so far for Solskjaer’s side.

After scoring, Van de Beek charged into a tackle, did a nice stepover to allow Memphis Depay to shoot, and produced a technically beautiful first-time pass, struck sweetly with the outside of his right boot, to find Wijndal on the wing. His cross was headed over by Donyell Malen.

Clearly, having started at least one match during each of the last three international camps, arriving back to Carrington with only two brief appearances off the bench is not ideal with the European Championship coming this summer.

But Van de Beek is not yet at the point of panic over his role at United. There have been no talks about him leaving at this stage and no feedback from United to suggest they want to sell him.

Paul Pogba’s presence is a factor. His departure would present Van de Beek with more opportunities. Should Pogba stay, however, conversations about Van de Beek’s role are expected.

United’s business when the market opens feels especially important in this regard. There is a theory Van de Beek would thrive as a deeper midfielder next to an elite holder, a position that is on United’s list. At present, suspicions are that Solskjaer does not trust Fred, Scott McTominay or Nemanja Matic to sit alone. There is also a belief Van de Beek may be afforded more opportunities once some of the team’s defensive issues have been resolved.

At training, Van de Beek is regarded as a bright, committed figure and though there is little satisfaction at accumulating just 315 Premier League minutes this season — compared to 413 for his country — he understood moving from the Eredivisie to England’s top-flight would require adjustments, not least physically. The speed endurance required of a box-to-box midfielder is undoubtedly greater.

It has been noted how Kai Havertz and Timo Werner are yet to show their form from the Bundesliga, which convinced Chelsea to sign them for a combined £110 million.

But, beyond the athletic demands, Van de Beek is yet to properly chime with team-mates. His latest chance, against Leicester City in the FA Cup, was not a performance to press his claims for a start. Mitigation must be applied in that it was his first appearance in five weeks after suffering a muscle injury, and gaining rhythm is hard when he has only once started two matches in a row for his new club — the trips to Southampton and West Ham in winter — but the choices he made at the King Power Stadium were at odds with United’s style, most notably their directness in attack.

Van de Beek started the tie positively, with a sharp pass out to Anthony Martial and run into the box.

Had Martial’s ball to Alex Telles been better, a cross would likely have followed.

Soon after though, an approach that has become familiar from Van de Beek emerged again. Fred burst forwards, playing a pass around Wilfred Ndidi and sprinting into space behind Leicester’s midfield, with Youri Tielemans advanced.

But Van de Beek passed the ball back to Matic first-time, leaving the Brazilian looking to the skies in angst.

A minute later, Van de Beek passed back to Matic again rather than try a through ball to Martial or Mason Greenwood, admittedly the harder option more likely to cede possession.

Later on, United had a counter-attack possibility, with Pogba galloping forwards ahead of nine Leicester men who had advanced beyond the ball. Only Timothy Castagne was back.

But rather than try a difficult pass to Pogba, or indeed a simpler ball to Greenwood (although he did not exactly offer for it), Van de Beek checked back. Ultimately, he attempted a pass down the line that Tielemans intercepted anyway. Solskjaer would have preferred the risk taken for the possibility of reward.

Two minutes into the second half, a similar situation arose. It could have been a four-on-four situation had United progressed aggressively, but Van de Beek allowed Pogba’s pass to run between his legs, turned, then played it square to the Frenchman, who stopped his run and dropped back to halfway.

A deficit of dynamism was again evident on the hour. Van de Beek swivelled to excellent effect around Ndidi by the touchline and drove through a tackle by Caglar Soyuncu to momentarily have a two-on-two, with the ball rolling to Martial.

But rather than sprint into space behind Jonny Evans, Van de Beek slowed to a jog and into the slipstream of Martial.

It was reminiscent of a similar episode against West Ham in the previous round of the FA Cup, when Van de Beek took a step to his left as he passed to Marcus Rashford, then ran behind rather than make up ground or offer a passing option.

Van de Beek did ultimately manage to get on the overlap when Rashford moved right, but he passed inside to Fred.

Any of these decisions from Van de Beek would be fine in isolation, especially when retaining possession. But as a collective, they point to a core divergence from Solskjaer’s vision. Van de Beek has come through a system at Ajax that is built around the short, first-time passing and moving up the pitch in stages, whereas United are generally more direct, particularly with Bruno Fernandes at No 10.

The contrast between their two styles can be seen by their pass maps from the King Power Stadium (yellow is incomplete, black is successful: three of Van de Beek’s were kick-offs). Fernandes came on in the 64th minute.

Van de Beek did have a couple of neat one-twos with Fred then Matic in tight situations, and of course there was his stepover to enable Greenwood’s goal. He also put in tackles on Ayoze Perez and Marc Albrighton to stop dangerous situations from arising. There is obvious work to be done, though.

During sessions, Solskjaer does encourage players to be bold when on the ball. But the churn of fixtures this season has limited the time available to develop tactical work. In any case, Van de Beek is fundamentally a different player to Fernandes, so he needs space to adapt, or United might have to accept that when he is in the No 10 position their style will alter.

Pre-season offers a major opportunity for progress. Last summer’s special circumstances meant the usual work that goes on behind the scenes preparing for a campaign could not happen. Van de Beek and Solskjaer will hope a proper period this year translates to improvements next season.