According to reports, Manchester United have agreed personal terms with Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt.
The 24-year-old Dutch international is currently on duty with Netherlands at Euro 2024 in Germany, where they are hopeful of winning it.
While De Ligt is included in the Dutch squad, he has not really featured much in this competition.
He sits behind Virgil van Dijk and Stefan de Vrij in the pecking order at the back, which may change with a semi-final against England looming around.
De Ligt hardly got to play in his team, with only 16 starts in the Bundesliga last year under Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
For the first time in over ten years, the team didn’t win the league and came in third place.
Yet, despite this, Manchester United seems to have made a deal with De Ligt and might make room for him to join them before the summer transfer window shuts.
Reports suggest that Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been crucial in persuading the former Ajax player to abandon Bayern Munich for Manchester United.
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But the deal will only be agreed on if an agreeable transfer fee is agreed upon between the two parties at some window, with Bayern Munich sticking a valuation of £42 million on the defender’s head.
De Ligt is being replaced at Bayern by Jonathan Tah of Bayer Leverkusen for next season.
Ten Hag knows De Ligt from his time at Ajax, where the defender was central to their run to the Champions League semi-finals.
No doubt, this forms part of the reason behind his strong pursuit for his signature at Manchester United.
Sources close to the deal claim Manchester United is targeting at least two first-team center-backs this summer.
The confirmation of Raphael Varane’s exit is already in place, with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof expected to follow him out of the door.
This has led to United starting to ponder the possibility of strengthening their backline as early as possible.
Besides De Ligt, United is also said to be monitoring a £42m bid already agreed with Lille’s Leny Yoro, while the defender is stalling in the hope of securing his dream move to Real Madrid.
Another defensive target is Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, who the Toffees value at around £70 million.
This interest that Manchester United has in De Ligt spells out their desire to strengthen their defense going into the new season, wanting to put up some strong competition for teams both in domestic leagues and in European competitions.
