When Manchester United first expressed interest in on one of this summer’s leading transfer targets, fans of his current employers did not wait around to make their feelings heard.
At the time of writing, a petition drawn up by desperate Bayern Munich supporters demanding that Matthijs de Ligt is kept at the Allianz Arena has reached over 70,000 signatures, via Change.org.
The Dutchman might have been in and out of the Bayern starting XI over the last two years but, when fit and firing, there is arguably not a finer centre-half available to the Bundesliga giants.
As German football expert Konstantin Eckner explained to talkSPORT, De Ligt was ‘the best player’ in Germany’s top flight during the second half of 2022/23.
And while the 24-year-old may not have lived up to Erik ten Hag’s prediction – De Ligt’s former Ajax coach tipping him to become the world’s finest centre-half – Eckner feels he has shown enough at Bayern to prove he can still be a modern-day ‘great’.
Manchester United still keen on Matthijs de Ligt
It’s not just the Bayern fans, meanwhile, who appear a little nonplussed by the club’s willingness to cash in.
Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, while admitting that the decision lies with the Bayern bosses, did little to hide the feeling that – if he was calling the shots in the dressing room – De Ligt would be going nowhere.
“I’ve always been very happy with him at my side. He’s a real defender who likes to fight,” Neuer tells Kicker. “He throws himself into the fight, even in aerial duels, and he’s always there.
“I get on very well with him on the pitch. But, in the end, it’s the club that makes the decision.”
Bayern find themselves in a similar position to Man United this summer. They too must sell before they can buy.
As such, Vincent Kompany’s side have little choice but to ship out De Ligt if they are to bring in Jonathan Tah from champions Bayer Leverkusen in his place.
As things stand, the Tah deal is stalling. As is the one that would see De Ligt reunite with Ten Hag at Old Trafford, Man United stuck until they can find a buyer for Victor Lindelof with just one year left on the Swede’s contract.
CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen is not getting worried just yet, however. Not with a month remaining in the transfer window and plenty of dominoes still to fall.
Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui also a target
“We still have a whole month of transfer time ahead of us,” Dreesen adds, via Kicker. “And a few things will still happen!”
“Selling players is also part of our business. Because, at the end of the day, you always want to freshen up a team.
“And that includes selling players.”
According to Bild, Man United’s most recent offer of £25 million was rejected by Bayern. Last season’s Champions League semi-finalists want closer to £42 million, though the Tah situation means that Bayern could be persuaded to accept a lower sum in order to speed up negotiations.
De Ligt has also been left out of Bayern’s squad for the pre-season trip to Korea.
Noussair Mazraoui, the versatile full-back who also has his heart set on a move to Manchester, has travelled to the Far East however.
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