Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag wants to make Matthijs de Ligt his first signing of the summer transfer window.
De Ligt is free to leave Bayern Munich after falling out of favor last season, with the German side keen to raise funds with a sale and offload his salary from the wage bill. Bayern are closing in on the signing of Stuttgart’s Hiroki Ito and remain in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a deal for Jonathan Tah.
The arrival of this defensive duo will pave the way for De Ligt’s departure and Ten Hag is eyeing a reunion with the Dutch defender at Old Trafford. De Ligt joined the Ajax squad during Ten Hag’s tenure at the Eredivisie side and was named captain as a teenager.
He became the youngest player to appear in a European final, aged 17, after starting the Europa League defeat to Manchester United in 2016-17 and later captaining Ajax in the Champions League semi-finals.
De Ligt became the first defender to win the Golden Boy in 2018 and joined Juventus for €75 million in 2019. After three seasons and a Serie A title in Turin, he signed for Bayern Munich in 2022 and won the Bundesliga title on his debut. campaign with the club.
However, the 24-year-old made just 16 league appearances last season and Bayern are prepared to release the defender to raise funds for their rebuild under new coach Vincent Kompany.
Manchester United are in search of a defender this summer and Sky Germany are reporting that the Red Devils are closely monitoring De Ligt’s situation. The departure of Raphael Varane and uncertainty over the futures of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have made signing a new centre-back a priority at Old Trafford.
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