Manchester United have held ‘discussions’ over the possibility of bringing Matthijs De Ligt to Old Trafford this summer on the cheap.
The Netherlands defender is currently away on international duty at Euro 2024, having failed to start for his country at the tournament so far. While he competes with Stefan De Vrij, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake and Micky van de Ven for game-time for his country, however, minutes for Bayern Munich may be harder to come by next term under Vincent Kompany, too.
According to Kicker over in Germany, the rock at the heart of Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga-winning backline, Jonathan Tah, is a major target for the Bavarians. This could leave De Ligt as an expendable asset for sale.
Sky journalist Florian Plettenberg has posted on X (formerly Twitter) that De Ligt is a transfer target for Manchester United along with Jarrad Branthwaite and Leny Yoro – and he may be far more attainable than both.
“Erik ten Hag is still a great admirer of De Ligt who can leave Bayern this summer with a suitable offer,” Plettenberg says of the situation, adding that Die Roten's idea of such a bid is around €50 million.
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This fee seems particularly low, considering that the former Kopa Trophy winner was reportedly bought for €67m, with €10m of performance-related bonuses included in the transfer.
De Ligt was Ten Hag's Ajax captain back in the Netherlands, skippering the Amsterdammers' 2026/17 run to the Europa League final run and 2018/19 campaign in which they reached an unlikely Champions League semi-final. Signing the star now may also attract former team-mate Frenkie De Jong, too, who has been a target for Ten Hag ever since he took the Old Trafford job in 2022.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, this is one deal that feels inexpensive at face value but which may rise when agent fees and wages are considered, too. With United looking into lower-profile stars like Rasmus Hojlund over Harry Kane last summer, it may be that De Ligt breaks their wage structure and that signing a younger model in Jarrad Branthwaite may cost more in transfer fee but represents better value for money.
Nevertheless, De Ligt's links to Ten Hag and seeming availability this summer mean that he is undoubtedly a good backup option for the United centre-back shortlist.
The 24-year-old is valued at €65 million by Transfermarkt.
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