Man United reach agreement to sign De Ligt (2024)

Manchester United have reached an agreement with Bayern Munich to sign Matthijs de Ligt.

The centre-back will move to Old Trafford in a deal worth €45million, plus €5m in add-ons.

Subject to undergoing a medical, De Ligt is to join United on a five-year contract that includes the option to extend by an additional 12 months.

Landing the 24-year-old Netherlands international — formerly of Juventus and Ajax — sees manager Erik ten Hag’s side strengthened with a young but vastly experienced and high level defender.

Bayern have separately accepted a proposal of €15m plus €5m in bonuses from United for full-back Noussair Mazraoui — a proposed transfer which is contingent on fellow 26-year-old Aaron Wan-Bissaka departing the Premier League club.

West Ham United have agreed a £15m fee with Manchester United for Wan-Bissaka, while talks over the length of the deal are ongoing.

The move is also still subject to Wan-Bissaka finalising his Manchester United termination.

A medical at the east London side is pencilled in for Sunday or Monday.

Wan-Bissaka has made 190 first-team appearances for United since joining from Crystal Palace for an initial £45m in 2019.

De Ligt arrival could signal a change in style

Analysis from Anantaajith Raghuraman

De Ligt should be a good addition to United’s current defensive options following the exit of Raphael Varane as a free agent at the end of last season. He is a right-footed right centre-back who should fit in perfectly alongside the left-footed, left-sided Lisandro Martinez.

De Ligt has had his injury issues in recent years. However, following a torrid 2020-21 in Italy, he has missed only 27 matches for club and country because of them over the past three seasons, the same as Harry Maguire and fewer than the latter’s fellow United centre-backs Victor Lindelof (31) and Martinez (67).

There are also no doubts about what De Ligt would bring as a leader, which United could do with following World Cup and four-time Champions League winner Varane’s departure.

However, questions arise when taking Ten Hag’s comments regarding his playing style into consideration. Last October, he said after a 3-0 Premier League home derby defeat against Manchester City: “The football that we played at Ajax, we will never play here… The Ajax style of football is very characteristic, and here we will be playing a lot more direct. And that is what we have players for, especially in the forefront (of the pitch).”

By bringing De Ligt in, perhaps Ten Hag could be signalling that he is ready to change and return to a more possession-based, fluid style of play, rather than the at times chaotic, end-to-end football United played last season.

De Ligt is an astute passer and recorded 93.9 per cent completion on 77.50 attempts per 90 minutes last season, including an excellent 76.9 per cent on 7.86 long balls per 90. He can play crossfield passes to spread the opposition out. Last season, even in one of his worst seasons, due to those injuries and a lack of consistent playing time, De Ligt’s passing still stood out.

Of his 1,193 Bundesliga passes, 8.2 per cent were progressive (defined as completed ones that move the ball towards the opposition goal line at least 10 yards from its further point in the last six passes) and 9.1 per cent were into the final third. In comparison, only 5.4 and 6.0 per cent of Martinez’s 1,528 passes in the 2022-23 Premier League were progressive and into the final third respectively. Similarly, last season, 6.6 per cent of Maguire’s 1,103 passes in the English top flight were progressive, and 7.1 per cent were into the final third.

Even when adjusting for the differences between the Bundesliga and the Premier League, this suggests De Ligt would improve United’s build-up play from the back with line-breaking passes

(Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

David Ornstein joined The Athletic in October 2019 after 12 years as a sports journalist and correspondent at the BBC. In the role of Football Correspondent, he is responsible for producing exclusive and original stories and interviews, offering unique insight and analysis. He works across video, audio and the written word. Follow David on Twitter @David_Ornstein