Now Matthijs de Ligt has sealed his move from Bayern Munich to Manchester United, we can break down the winners and losers from the deal.
Matthijs de Ligt has sealed his long awaited move from Bayern Munich to Manchester United for an initial fee of £38 million.
De Ligt was praised by sporting director Dan Ashworth, with his deal confirmed along with Noussair Mazraoui’s switch.
This is a major deal for United, one which ranks moderately among the club’s most expensive signings of all time, but a crucially important transfer for the 2024/25 season.
- READ MORE: Manchester United confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2024/25
Winners from De Ligt deal
Let’s take a look at the five winners from the Matthijs de Ligt transfer deal…
Erik ten Hag
There is only one place to start here and that is Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. He has re-signed a player he once made captain of Ajax as a teenager, who he trusts immeasurably. Ten Hag even predicted De Ligt would become the best defender in the world.
This was a vital move for Ten Hag, who wants to refresh his defence, with players who can bring the ball out from the back and adopt the style he wants. This is also an important deal, along with the Mazraoui switch, in terms of the manager’s power base.
A lot has been made of Ineos‘ influence and the potential to take power away from Ten Hag, and while that has happened to a degree, Ten Hag has not lost his say, clearly pushing to work with De Ligt again, his voice still matters.
Andre Onana
Manchester United’s goalkeeper had an unsettled start to life at Old Trafford which was not helped by serious injury issues to his centre-backs and full-backs throughout last season.
Andre Onana will benefit from having a defender in front of him who he has played alongside before, one who knows how to play out from the back.
Leny Yoro
Make no mistake, Matthijs de Ligt’s arrival is good news for wonderkid signing Leny Yoro, who joined for £52 million from Lille.
United always intended to add De Ligt too, but this became absolutely necessary after Yoro suffered an injury which will keep him out for three months.
De Ligt’s presence means United really do not need to rush Yoro back, and when he does return, he can be eased in, rather than going straight into a busy schedule.
Long-term, Yoro and De Ligt may be competing for places, but this is excellent news for the Frenchman to have the Netherlands star there too. His experience will help De Ligt through, and they are likely to get chances to play alongside each other.
Lisandro Martinez
Lisandro Martinez suffered injury issues last season and while healthy now, Manchester United can’t realistically expect him to start all 38 Premier League fixtures plus Europa League games.
De Ligt’s presence will mean Martinez can be more easily rotated and avoid re-injury, and when they do play together, their partnership is a potentially exciting one.
Martinez and De Ligt will see two Ajax trained centre-backs line up alongside each other and their games should suit each other well, with two leaders at the heart of the defence.
Ineos
Whatever Erik ten Hag’s role in identifying De Ligt as a target or not, Ineos have done extremely well to execute this deal.
The £38 million fee is a steal for a defender of De Ligt’s experience and quality, and Ineos have done great work to keep the price down, and hold their nerve in negotiations with Bayern.
Losers from De Ligt deal
As always, there are unfortunate ‘losers’ from a deal of this magnitude. Here is a look at those impacted.
Bayern Munich
Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui brought the total to eight players to represent Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
And in this case, Bayern fans have been left highly upset at De Ligt’s exit, with fans creating a petition to keep him at the club, to no avail.
Bayern supporters named De Ligt as their best centre-back, and the German club have made an error letting him leave, unlike with certain other players in the past, while the low fee is another own goal.
Victor Lindelof
Matthijs de Ligt’s arrival should signal the end of Victor Lindelof‘s Manchester United career, with the Swede falling further down the pecking order.
Lindelof’s contract expires next summer and now is time to cash in. The previous argument to keep him for depth is now gone.
Harry Maguire
Harry Maguire probably will end up staying put at Manchester United, unless he can be flipped into a move for Jarrad Branthwaite.
But unfortunately for Maguire, when Yoro is fit, the England international faces being fourth choice defender.
That’s bad news for his desire to play, and his international ambitions, although he should see game time early on, mainly due to Yoro’s injury and careful management of Martinez.
Sofyan Amrabat
Manchester United have confirmed Matthijs de Ligt’s squad number, and De Ligt has the number four shirt.
This was the shirt worn by loanee Sofyan Amrabat last season, and this could be a further hint United do not intend to re-sign the Moroccan this summer.
While it can’t entirely be ruled out, if Amrabat is an emergency midfield signing, again, he will end up with a much higher and less iconic number.
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