Manchester United and Bayern Munich have agreed on a fee and add-on package for Netherlands central defender Matthijs de Ligt after months of speculation this summer. Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that United’s latest offer has been accepted.
Romano has confirmed that United offered to pay €45 million (£38.6 million) plus €5 million (£4.3 million) in add-ons which will be paid over a three-year period. This ensures that United get their man this summer and Bayern get a fee that they wanted for the player, meaning they can rebuild.
De Ligt, 24, will sign a five-year contract at the Old Trafford club with the option of a sixth to be added at a later date, meaning he will spend the years that he should reach the pinnacle of his form at United. He will travel to Manchester for a medical and to sign the contract when cleared to do so.
It was suggested earlier in the summer that United were seeking to add at least two central defenders to the squad this season – one to replace Raphael Varane with the other to make the squad stronger. Although Victor Lindelof could still leave the club this summer.
It has also been suggested that the future of Harry Maguire at the club looks bleak as United could cash in on the defender, who will need regular football to regain a spot in the England squad later this summer when international football returns after Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.
This United squad should be a lot better in the defence this season with the addition on de Ligt and Leny Yoro, who signed for the club earlier in the summer but was injured in his second pre-season match this summer and will miss the next three months recovering from surgery.
The Netherlands central defender lifted the Eredivisie in the 2018/19 season with Ajax before leaving for Juventus in the summer of 2019 with United rivals for the signature of the player, lifting the Serie A title in Italy during the 2019/20 season. De Ligt also lifted the Bundesliga with Bayern in 2023.
United will be the fourth club De Ligt has played for and with him winning a league title at each club, it will be something that United will need to also achieve during his time at the Old Trafford club, which is what United are still awaiting post-Sir Alex Ferguson never really coming close.
Written by Paul
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