- 8 hours ago
Man Utd target De Ligt 'not trusted' by Bayern Munich
Manchester United target Matthijs De Ligt was ‘not trusted’ by the Bayern Munich hierarchy after he signed for the club from Juventus, according to reports.
Fabrizio Romano states that former sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic had ensured that the club brought him in from Serie A, but ‘things changed and De Ligt was no longer trusted as a key player’.
The 24-year-old has given the green light to the club and only has eyes on moving to Old Trafford, amid reports that Paris Saint-Germain are keen on the centre-back.
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Agent Rafaela Pimenta is working on this deal and is in dialogue with the Red Devils.
De Ligt - who FootballTransfers’ Estimated Transfer Value algorithm (ETV) ranks at €52.8 million - is believed to be on a big salary at Bayern but is happy to take a pay cut if it means ensuring that he can move to the Premier League giants and work under Erik ten Hag once again.
Bayern want around €50m for De Ligt and Man Utd will look to offer around €35-40m with add-ons, while there is confidence that a deal can be concluded for the Dutchman.
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The centre-back broke through under Erik ten Hag at Ajax and went on to win titles with both Juventus and Bayern.
One of the issues at Juventus was the frequent change of coaches - having played under Maurizio Sarri to Andrea Pirlo and then Max Allegri.
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De Ligt excelled under Julian Nagelsmann with the pair having a strong bond but things fell apart with Thomas Tuchel was in the dugout, with the German preferring Kim Min-Jae and also Eric Dier, who arrived in January.
The Dutch international will likely find regular game-time alongside Lisandro Martinez next season if a deal is to be sealed.
Furthermore, the imminent appointments of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake as assistant coaches are likely to help settle the player at Man Utd, with a strong contingent of compatriots.