Man Utd eye mega-money Ten Hag reunion with Arsenal target

Milan Keskin

• Updated: 16 Jan 2024 09:54 GMT
• 3 min read

Erik ten Hag wants to strengthen Manchester United's squad with high-profile arrivals.

In addition to wanting a new attacker, Man Utd are also looking for a new central defender. According to Sky Germany, Matthijs de Ligt is at the top of Ten Hag's wish list.

Although Ten Hag wants to strengthen the Red Devils' rearguard already this month, there is one problem: Man Utd don't have any money to spend and Bayern Munich wouldn't let the Dutch international leave mid-season.

Partly because Kim Min-jae is currently active at the Asian Cup with South Korea, the defender is not allowed to depart for the time being by Thomas Tuchel, who has brought in a new competitor for De Ligt in Eric Dier.

However, Tuchel seems to be willing to sacrifice De Ligt in the summer, as the German record champions have set their sights on Ronald Araujo from Barcelona, whom Man Utd have also enquired about.

Barcelona, however, are demanding as much as €80 million, so Bayern will have to create financial wiggle room for his arrival. De Ligt can, therefore, look forward to a new employer next summer.

De Ligt also an Arsenal target

The 24-year-old defender arrived at the Allianz Arena from Juventus in 2022 for €67m, which took the combined transfer fees he has accumulated throughout his career to over €150m. A summer departure would only add to that whopping amount as he won't come cheap.

However, just because he may be allowed to leave and Man Utd are interested, it is not a foregone conclusion that he will end up at Old Trafford. First of all, Ten Hag may not even still be around come the summer.

Then there are the club's Financial Fair Play concerns. The incoming investment of Sir Jim Ratcliffe will alleviate the problem a bit, but given the state of Man Utd's team, they will need several high-profile signings in the summer, some of which will have to be funded by sales.

Finally, there is the issue of Arsenal. According to a recent report in The Athletic, the Gunners are also interested in De Ligt and are licking their lips at the prospect of him being made available.