'A disgrace' - Matthijs de Ligt transfer slammed

Cameron Smith

• 27 Aug 2024 07:30 BST
• 3 min read

German football legend Lothar Matthaus has slammed Bayern Munich’s decision to sell Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United.

The Netherlands international left the Allianz Arena to reunite with Erik ten Hag for an initial transfer fee of €45 million this summer, but Matthaus believes Bayern made a grave error by offloading him.

The Bavarians beat Wolfsburg 3-2 on Saturday to start the new Bundesliga campaign with a win, but the centre-back duo of Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano were unconvincing on the day.

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Speaking to Sport Bild, Matthaus was quick to criticise Bayern’s decision to sell De Ligt to Old Trafford.

“The defence is and remains FC Bayern's Achilles heel. Matthijs de Ligt was sold, although he was the most stable in the last two years.

“He was the head of defence. Now Bayern are again looking for a successor to David Alaba. For me, it is a disgrace that this leader is missing. After all, we are talking about FC Bayern here.

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“Many people - including in the team - are just shaking their heads. Because the players also know that they are shaky in defence. And then the best defender for many is sold.”

De Ligt spent just two years at Bayern before joining Man Utd and he made his Red Devils debut against Fulham in the opening Premier League game of the 2024-25 campaign.

Kim Min-jae slammed

In addition to ruing the sale of De Ligt, Matthaus also took a swipe at Bayern defender Kim - who joined the club from Napoli for €50m last summer.

“I don't want to offend Kim, but he simply hasn't combined the clear, quick passing game with a certain security that is needed. I didn't like that about him from the start.

“The ball bounces around with him. That's not what I expect at the highest level, that's not Bayern Munich. He also doesn't have the tackling strength that he had in Naples at the moment.”