A £50m star who has been likened to Cristiano Ronaldo has told his friends he wants to join Manchester United as soon as possible.
Man Utd working on more signings before August 30
The Red Devils are into their first transfer window under new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and have already splashed the cash on big-money deals for Joshua Zirkzee and centre-back Leny Yoro.
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Now, attention is on further reinforcements to make an impact in Erik ten Hag’s squad for the upcoming Premier League season, and it looks as if two more defenders and one midfielder are wanted at Old Trafford as the bare minimum before the August 30 deadline.
Sporting director Dan Ashworth appears to be working on a double deal for Bayern Munich duo Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt, with the right-back’s arrival potentially allowing Aaron Wan-Bissaka to depart.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag could arguably do with De Ligt joining sooner rather than later, with Yoro suffering a serious foot injury in pre-season which has required surgery. Now, in a new update, it looks as if the Dutch defender is extremely keen to reunite with Ten Hag in Manchester.
De Ligt tells friends he wants Man Utd move
According to Football Insider, De Ligt has told his friends that he wants to join Man Utd as soon as possible, with talks continuing between the Red Devils and Bayern over a transfer worth up to £50m.
Bayern themselves have agreed a deal to sign Jonathan Tah from Bayer Leverkusen, which could allow De Ligt to complete his move to England, something which he is “very keen” to do.
De Ligt views United as the ideal next step in his career, and he could become the sixth senior centre-back alongside Yoro, Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans.
Should Man Utd seal a deal for De Ligt, they’d be getting a defender who has made more appearances under Ten Hag than any other manager in his career so far.
Appearances
70
Minutes played
6,230
Goals
8
Assists
5
Yellow cards
7
The 24-year-old has also been compared to Red Devils legend Ronaldo by former goalkeeper Edwin van de Sar. Talking back in 2019, former Ajax chief executive Van de Sar likened De Ligt’s mentality to Ronaldo, saying about the centre-back after he signed for Juventus: “He had been all his life at Ajax. So to step away, move with your girlfriend and the family to a different city, a different language. But his mentality and the way he wants to improve.
"He wants to be the best defender in the world. And I've seen that with a few players. One of them is playing in the same team, Cristiano Ronaldo.
“When I played at Man United with him, he had the same desire and attitude to work hard, to become better every training. And that's the same mentality and hunger as Matthijs de Ligt.”
