De Ligt's Man Utd career at risk under Ruben Amorim

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 30 Oct 2024 15:47 GMT
• 3 min read

The appointment of Ruben Amorim as Manchester United manager will put Matthijs de Ligt’s career at the club at risk.

That is according to CaughtOffside, who report that De Ligt is set to be a big loser with the arrival of Amorim.

The 39-year-old coach is set to be officially announced as the new United manager, replacing Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman was sacked on Monday.

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TeamTalk report that Amorim has immediately requested the signing of his Sporting Lisbon centre back Goncalo Inacio in January.

Inacio would line up in United’s back three along with Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martinez, meaning De Ligt is pushed down the pecking order.

This is just the latest bad news for De Ligt as he decided to join United in order to team up with his former Ajax manager Ten Hag.

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De Ligt tough start at Man Utd

De Ligt has had a difficult start to his Manchester United career after arriving this summer from Bayern Munich for an initial fee of €45 million, with a further €5m in potential add-ons.

United have leaked numerous goals, conceding three goals on three occasions already this season. They find themselves in 14th position in the Premier League and have failed to win all three Europa League matches.

De Ligt was one of two centre-backs to join Man Utd this summer, following the arrival of Lille wonderkid Leny Yoro, who has been out injured.

United had been in talks to sign Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite for several months, although his high price tag was a problem and Man Utd turned their attention to De Ligt and Yoro.

Man Utd’s sacked manager Ten Hag was a big fan of De Ligt having worked with him at Ajax.

During that time, De Ligt emerged as arguably the most promising young centre back in Europe before signing for Juventus in the summer of 2019.

However, he never lived up to his potential at Juve, who sold him to Bayern Munich in 2022.

De Ligt signed a five-year contract in Bavaria that ran until 2027 but he also struggled at Bayern.

This has led to him even being nicknamed the ‘Dutch Harry Maguire’ due to his occasional propensity for clumsy mistakes and a lack of speed when on the turn.

Having failed to succeed at Juventus and Bayern, there is now the risk that he could fail at Man Utd also.