Manchester United are close to completing a double deal for Bayern Munich duo Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.
Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui are in Manchester to undergo medicals to finalise their moves to Old Trafford.
Manchester United agreed deals with Bayern Munich for the pair, paying an initial £38 million for De Ligt and £12 million for Mazraoui. £4 million for each could later be due in add-ons.
The arrivals add new options at centre-back and right-back, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the process of completing an exit to West Ham.
Reaction in Germany to move
Bayern Munich are experiencing a busy summer, appointing Vincent Kompany as manager and sealing deals for Michael Olise and Joao Palhinha.
These exits for Mazraoui and De Ligt felt inevitable due to the desire of both players to leave the club and reunite with former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag.
Even so, the prices Bayern have allowed the pair to leave for are being questioned.
Christian Kynast writes for BILD: “Two years ago, Bayern paid 67 million for De Ligt (market value 65 million) – now he is bringing in 20 million less. Not a good deal!”
He adds: “I consider Matthijs de Ligt to be one of the best central defenders in the world and would not have let him go – because in addition to his sporting quality, he is also a leader type and at 25 years old he is very young.”
FCB Inside also back up the quality of the pair, writing: “It is clear that Mazraoui and De Ligt were considered reliable regulars in the second half of the season and were among the best Munich players in the big Champions League games against Arsenal and Real Madrid.”
Their report also acknowledges the sales as ‘below market value’, adding: “The sales of De Ligt and Mazraoui – especially at these prices – can certainly be questioned.”
T-Online note that De Ligt and Mazraoui’s exits continue the trend of Bayern reversing most of the business they did two years ago. They signed five players, of who now just one remains, Mathys Tel, following exits for Ryan Gravenberch and Sadio Mane.
Sport1 report Bayern Munich fans are ‘furious’ with the double exit, with one writing on X “we were ripped off”, and another adding “Bayern simply doesn’t want to become German champions.”
A third wrote: “The club is losing too many key players, including David Alaba, Robert Lewandowski and Lucas Hernández. Now de Ligt too. That’s terrible.”
Another pointed out the changed approach where United are no longer fools in the market, writing: “It’s just incredibly embarrassing to let United rip you off like that.”
Manchester United’s third and fourth signings
Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui will become Manchester United’s third and fourth signings of the summer.
They join Leny Yoro, another centre-back, who is unfortunately out for three months with an injury sustained in pre-season.
This accelerated the need for De Ligt, but the plan was always for United to make two centre-back signings this summer.
They also join Joshua Zirkzee, another former Bayern Munich player, although he left the German club in the same summer De Ligt and Mazraoui joined.
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