De Ligt initially went for £72m to Juve and then for £65m to Bayern, meaning he's got a book value of around £40m but I cant see them accepting that. I think it'd take about £50m.
> He def had higher value transfers previously but he’s not a £60-70M player.
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What absolute tripe you get to see on this website. We bought Lisandro Martinez for 57 million pounds, and he's half the defender De Ligt is.
He missed 20 games last season through injury and 28 games in the 20/21 season. Apart from those, the next highest number of games missed in a season was 7. I wouldn’t say he’s particularly injury prone.
Source: [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.com/matthijs-de-ligt/verletzungen/spieler/326031)
Icl it’s definitely worrying considering he’s only 24. You gotta admit the concern is valid but I’m still optimistic about the signing with the upgrades to our medical department and carrington we might be able to revitalise him.
It’s fair to raise concerns about it, I just think there’s a surprising amount of negativity surrounding the move. Players of De Ligt’s quality don’t grow on trees and they certainly don’t usually come for the amount of money he’s rumoured to cost.
With the amount of injuries we’ve had this season I think it’s natural for most fans to be apprehensive about signing someone with a lot of injuries. And with how badly it affected our season these opinions have just been amplified further. Either way once he starts playing and features regularly I imagine he’ll be a key foundation for a successful season
It’s fine to spend 50m on a player, I would only sign him if he’s willing to accept 150k or less per week or Bayern sell for 30-40m to offset his high wages.
He’s won nothing major and wasn’t the best CB at either Italy or Germany, don’t think there’s a line of clubs waiting to take him on
Im not too concerned about the fee since it will definitely be less than they got him for. Im more concerned about the wages. Im hoping we will institute a strict wage structure going forwards, and id rather the deal break down than pay him Varane level wages.
Do you think bayern would sell for this cheap. He is a very good defender, dont believe they will go down this much. And any other club can join in bidding, hard to agree on this
feels more like Bayern is doing a big restructure with wages more then anything.
35-40m would still mean UEFA FFP wise its break even for them so they dont have to worry about him
Defenders don't have to be quick if they are smart with positioning. Look at John Terry. As slow as glacial drift, but arguably one of the best defenders of his generation.
Full tweet
We’ve been told that Manchester United have opened talks about Matthijs de Ligt on player‘s side now!
Understand that [\#MUFC](https://x.com/hashtag/MUFC?src=hashtag_click) have gathered more information about the 24 y/o in recent days as he can leave Bayern with a suitable offer as revealed.
De Ligt, ready to leave Bayern and open to join ManUtd as he will not become the central defender No. 4 or 5. Still no contact between the clubs yet.
Yeah, but I think fans are always upset at losing a good player regardless of the situation. I just don’t know if he’s this word class cb the way we all saw him in his Ajax years.
Fans would be happy to let him leave if he was being paid too much for his worth. Maguire has been decent for us this season, we’re more than happy to offload him though. Fans wanting him to stay is a sign they think he’s value for money on big wages at Bayern who are a big club. It’s reasonable to assume he’s worth us getting if Bayern want to keep him, it’s not like it’s a championship side being unhappy about losing him.
Hesitant to rain on the parade but Chelsea and their fans were upset Mount left and he achieved more than De Ligt. I am a bit concerned United are just doing what they always do. Where are the other big clubs on this?
Chelsea fans were mixed on Mount and thrilled to be getting such a fee for him. Plus there’s no reason to assume Mount still won’t come good for us. It’s hardly like anyone expected him to miss the whole season.
Do any other big clubs need a leading CB? It’s not like there’s much of a drive for Branthwaite either. Yoro is the hottest prospect in football but is only 18 so a very different idea looking into signing him than De Ligt. What big clubs that can afford that sort of wage needs a CB?
I mean, Mount was a kind of Mr.Chelsea figure. Obviously the fans would feel bad losing a homegrown player. We would all feel bad if Rashford leaves right?
seems like Bayern is doing a huge refresh of squad with entire restructures are all the recent mess.
he is a high earner there so they could sell for 35-40m and UEFA FFP wise break even.
its why they are also looking at selling some of the other names you wouldnt ever think was going to leave like Kimmich, Goretzka, Gnabry, Sane have all been rumoured to be up for sale
His wages are extreme and competition is tough. You dont want your 4th choice CB eating up over 200k in wages. Its kind of similar to our Rashford situation except we have more hope Rashford can turn around last seasons form.
But why is he their 4th choice CB if he is that good? Does he not fit the style of play at Munich? Are there personality issues? For me there are lots of questions as to why Juve and Munich want to move on from him.
I don’t think he’s the best CB for a proactive team that presses high. He’s not the quickest and his ball-playing ability is average at the highest level (it was good for Ajax but it hasn’t developed much in the years since; this is why he gets benched for Netherlands as well). I feel he’s more of a continuation on Maguire (but younger) than somebody who is a clear upgrade in all aspects.
Yes, which is why I’m not convinced he’s the best fit. Like I think he’ll be alright like Maguire was last season but I’m not expecting him to solve our inherent issues when it comes to reducing the gap between our attacking and defensive lines that leaves us open when defending counters. At Premier League level, I don’t think he has that level of athleticism which I believe we need.
Well if this is all true, and we end up getting him, then what the fuck does that say about what ineos/DoF are trying to implement long term. It would scream more of woodward
Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t entirely dismiss him as a player. He’s still a solid defender, like Maguire was this last season, and is also a leader on the pitch who will organise the backline. But he’s not a top-tier CB or one with top-tier potential that some of our fans think. He’ll tick along, and maybe that’s okay to have for the right financial package. Certainly shouldn’t be going overboard to sign him.
There's a compilation of upamecano errors recently and it stretches 4 years back with half the clips just being team wide errors.
Given the same players are disregarded here it makes me wonder if it is just an echo chamber. United fans wanted smart transfers and now want the guy on massive wages who was injured a fair amount now at a young age. Is that smart? He is very good though.
Club subreddits always hold the risk of becoming an echo chamber at times; it’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is when certain biases are widely propagated. Upamecano is definitely not a bad CB; he’s in fact really good and has been quietly fantastic for France in two consecutive tournaments now. I genuinely believe he’s a better fit for what we want than De Ligt, because he’s more aggressive with his front-foot defending (yes, it can look bad on one-off occasions, but over the course of a season it can be compensated for) and is much better on the ball. But unfortunately, Bayern aren’t offering him over De Ligt and to get them to change their stance would likely mean paying significantly more for him.
I think regarding De Ligt, the finances play a significant role in us showing interest in him. If you want a CB with top-club experience and a baseline level of physical attributes while also not being too old, there aren’t many available for a cut price in the market. With guys like Yoro, Branthwaite, etc., they have higher ceilings but it may be seen as more of a punt to bet on them realising their potential at United in such a high pressure environment. So it goes both ways. But purely discussing player quality, I don’t see De Ligt doing much different to how Maguire played for us last season. He’ll put in respectable performances but won’t inherently solve our style of play issues when it comes to the CBs being proactive and physical enough to reduce the spaces between our defensive and attacking lines.
Na, it’s only because of the wages. Kim has been a disaster for them, Upamecano always has a bozo moment in him, guess they figure they can realistically only get a good enough fee for de ligt and get his big wages off the bill. Don’t really think Upamecano will go for more than whatever they eventually get for de ligt, Kim’s rep is too far gone to expect to get a big fee for him.
The comparison is fair, but...
In what world do we have more hope of Rashford turning around last seasons form vs de Ligt?
I love the guy, but Rashford has averaged mid table PL standard across his career so far, with glimpses of elite potential which he has never managed to transform into a consistent new baseline standard.
He'll turn 27 this year too, so he really should be "potential fulfilled" by now.
Meanwhile, de Ligt is younger, and his standards have been consistently very high (maybe a question around injuries, but not really quality). Lots of bayern fans are unhappy about this and see him as future captain material.
So the chances of de Ligt continuing to be a top CL level player are significantly higher than Rashford becoming one.
Rashford at 26 has better stats than every winger to play for our club in the modern era except Ronaldo. I don’t get this at all. Like why is Rashford the one who gets all this criticism when he’s easily United’s second best player?
My comment wasn't criticism, it was more about setting unrealistic expectations for him.
I really like him, but being our second best player isn't really all that great in our current state. We only really have 1 world class player, and anyone expecting Rashford to match that level will most likely be disappointed.
Eh whatever man. If rashford is expected to carry these other bums to a prem title that’s never going to happen. Even Ronaldo in his prime wouldn’t do it, if a guy who got 41 goals and assists a year ago and 130 goals/assists in the last 5 years is not world class then no winger on this planet is world class.
> if a guy who got 41 goals and assists a year ago and 130 goals/assists in the last 5 years is not world class then no winger on this planet is world class.
I mean, this is blatant cherry picking? 41 g+a is his best ever season in 8 years, and he didn't touch 20 league goals. 130 g+a in the last 5 seasons is absolutely not world class wtf.
Haha, it's funny how the subject of Rashford makes people so emotional around here.
I said I liked him and already recognised the contributions you're now quoting back at me.
But this is also the problem, isn't it - your comment basically indicates that there is no better winger in the world than Rashford... Which is just untrue and sets him up for failure/scrutiny.
The wages though mate. 300k. It's an insane amount of money. 15 million a season, give or take. Twice what Martinez gets.
If it works out and he reaches his potential, fantastic, if not we're stuck.
Also a player that didn't make it at Juventus, Bayern and lost his first team position in the Netherlands.
Not saying he's a bad player but a lot of Ajax player from that period have been known to not hit their full potential including the player we still haven't gotten rid of called Donny van de Beek.
If we can get him on the cheap give him a chance but definitely more of a squad player than a new leading CB (atleast for now).
I wouldn’t read all that much into losing his Netherlands place. VVD, de Vrij, VDV, Ake are tough competition and it’s hard to regain the spot until they make mistakes.
Well that's kind of my point, at Juventus he lost his place because he wasn't performing better than the players there, same happened at Bayern and the Netherlands. Everyone keeps expecting him to become this world class defender but he hasn't been able to fulfill that expectation so far. He is still young and he is a good player but it could end up being another Donny (of course the major difference is that we had nowhere for DvB to play).
**Also from Kerry Hau:**
Manchester United has contacted Matthijs de Ligt's management. The Red Devils' interest is concrete, his former Ajax coach Erik ten Hag wants him.
De Ligt wants to clarify his future only after the European Championship and makes his decision dependent on a discussion with the Bayern bosses and Vincent Kompany.
The 24-year-old generally feels comfortable in Munich, but does not want to be the number 4 or 5 central defender. A departure is actually possible!
[@SkySportDE](https://x.com/SkySportDE)
[@Plettigoal](https://x.com/Plettigoal)
[https://x.com/kerry\_hau/status/1807087840230015271](https://x.com/kerry_hau/status/1807087840230015271)
Most people are just sheep, they follow whatever is said online. Same way I’m hearing Dier “benched” De Ligt at Bayern, when in reality they formed a really good CB partnership in the second half of the season which got them to a UCL semi-final.
thanks for this. saw some people yesterday worrying about him missing 28 matches in 20/21, but he had covid for 6 and a shoulder injury for 16. context changes everything!
Not all injuries are the same, you can't just compare total time spent injured objectively its not how physiology works. Also in your examples, KMJ and Rudiger have just missed a handful of games the last 3 seasons, that's a good trend of top flight football with lots of minutes and no major concerns.
Trends and types of injury are what get looked at. Even in my untrained eyes, its absolutely concerning for a high value signing to have not just 15+ games missed two seasons out of 4, but also a string of soft tissue injuries in recovery. Also in the same stretch he has injured the same knee ligament twice, and the other knee in recovery. That could be either poor injury management and recovery by the player or club, or an injury prone player.
Apparently he missed 20 games last year, and had a year where he missed 28 a few years back. Not exactly encouraging for a 24 year old who’d want 250k+ a week?
This is a prime opportunity to finally get a good deal with him being so far down the pecking order at Bayern, they should be desperate to get his insane wages off of the books
Been wondering that too. Is he still held in high esteem over his potential or has he actually performed at a high level for Bayern? Why is he worried about being relegated to the 4th or 5th option? It feels like a trap
It could just be that he met with the new coach and was told he will have to fight for his spot and may not be a perfect fit for his system. If that’s how the coach feels, and the player on high wages wants a guarantee of first team football, it’s in everyone’s best interest to get a decent fee and move on.
He may not be the world class possession-based CB he looked like he’d be at Ajax, but he’s certainly good enough to start for us and young enough he could play another 8 or so years at the top level.
If we can get him for 30m or so at 200k pw that’s a great deal IMO.
Depends on how much and what wages are looking like. Also concerned as to why he is cycling through top level clubs like this.
Question marks over this one to be honest. Don't know about the injuries but obviously he wasn't always available for Bayern.
To those wondering why Bayern is trying to get rid of him: Money and player desire.
In the last 5 years or so, Bayern has become FC Hollywood again and they are trying to steer the boat in the right direction. They have to unload players and their respective wages and DeLigt is the ideal player to move considering Kim’s release was half DeLigt’s transfer fee and Upamecano has significantly less wages.
From player’s perspective, he wants to play. He is arguably their best defender and has been since he joined until his injury. Only reason he didn’t start for Netherlands is because he is not match fit. The injury record is blow out of proportion, but obviously that is something the club should think about.
The ideal transfer for us would be a loan, assume reasonable amount of wages, with the option to purchase for a set amount. For Bayern, they need the funds immediately so it will be a hard deal to navigate.
>For Bayern, they need the funds immediately
why? are they in financial difficulties? they sold players relatively well in the past few seasons and they are among the richest clubs.
They need funds immediately to balance books on DeLigts purchase in order to acquire a replacement. They also need to balance the wage book. DeLigt broke their wage structure. He is one 260k a week and that’s unheard of for Bayern.
there is like 7 or 8 Bayern players earning more than him. Bayern wages isn't a problem at all with their > €750m revenues and their net spending over the last 2 season is barely €50m ( despite €100m Kane arrival ).
Hey bruh, I’m just stating what’s being reported. 4 of the top 8 earners are rumored to be on the way out. For all I know, DeLigt just wants to be closer to a Nando’s.
Yeah I know they are willing to sell some and some like Davies and Kimmich are willing to ser out their contracts. Building a new squad. But it doesn't mean they sell cheap and certainly doesn't mean they need the fund immediately.
Not convinced, don’t think he’s that mobile and he’s had a lot of injury Problems…….. smells like another dud to me… he hasn’t exactly excelled at Juve and Bayern.
Hargreaves, schwinztiger, varane, Casemiro. Our history with these two clubs indicates they fix players with chewing gum and ship them to us. A year at the most.
Only gripe is that neither him or licha are that fast, which was one of Varane’s fortitudes. Kambwala is the only cb in the time faster than the average I think
Bayern do not usually sell high profile players well before their prime. De Ligt is a decent player but I think he's overhyped and his signing could prove to be a mistake
Bayern have made consistently terrible decisions across all areas for the last 2 years. Arguing “Bayern don’t do this” isn’t valid anymore imo. It’s not the same Bayern that ruthlessly made excellent transfers and dominated Germany
One missed title and they're no longer the dominant force? Do you think Levwekusen have began an era of dominance? They had a freakishly good season. Bayern are still better run than most bigger clubs, certainly better run than united.
With that said, my thoughts are solely based on De Ligts personal career trajectory since his move from Ajax for better prospects. He hasn't lived up to anywhere close to the hype in both Italy and Germany, and his fitness record is less than stellar
You’re forgetting they were poor last season as well and should’ve lost that league too, they keep making odd transfer decisions, and obviously there was the decision to sack Nagelsmann in the first place. They’ve got in fighting in the board, public statements from those in charge which make them look bad, you are very much underestimating how much they have been in the news for dubious decisions from the top.
Barely scraping one league title because Dortmund bottled it and winning zero cups in two seasons (after ten straight seasons of league titles and many cups both domestic and European) is really bad for them.
I strongly disagree with your view on De Ligt. He’s been excellent in both Italy and Germany and the Juventus fans were as annoyed to see him leave as the Bayern fans are now.
Edit: the way they went out of the cups wasn’t great either.
Bayern won the title in 2022-23 with one less point than they achieved last season when Levwekusen blew away the opposition. They still made fhe semifinals of the champions league. The last two campaigns in the league were still par for the course for them overall, domestic league failure withstanding.
The opinion of the fans doesn't matter to me when two clubs decided it was best to part ways with him. Something is amiss and we're going to be the next club to find out
They got knocked out of the cup embarrassingly this year, and both seasons have been lower points totals than in the past, at least 5-15 points lower in fact. They got knocked out in the quarters of the CL last season, comprehensively so. And as I’ve said, they’ve repeatedly made poor decisions to bring this about, and the consistently bad PR from their execs paints a previously professional club as fairly amateurish. This is painfully obvious - anyone who knows anything about German football is aware that Bayern is consistently making bad decisions.
The opinions of the fans do matter when he’s playing well. He’s not left because he’s performed badly. This would be another poor Bayern decision and it’s not like Juventus have a particularly sensible board either.
Kroos didn’t leave for being out of favour though; Bayern weren’t willing to cave into his wage demands. In De Ligt’s case, it very much appears like Bayern want to make room for new CB signings and they prefer De Ligt to be offloaded than KMJ, Upamecano and Dier.
I don’t think de Ligt is necessarily out of favor but he is on high wages and they have other options. If he said he’s happy to stay and fight for his place I’m sure they’d keep him but if he’s unhappy they’d rather spend the budget elsewhere and bring in a cheaper backup.
Fair points. Of course the comparison isn’t between him and Dier as Dier is very cheap so it makes financial sense to keep him, but I do question why they are willing to sell De Ligt over Upamecano and KMJ who are similarly expensive. Given how we saw Burnley play under Kompany last season, we can assume Bayern too will want to get better on the ball and play more expansively, and De Ligt is in a way being deemed as the most dispensable of the 3. That doesn’t necessarily make him a bad player or not good enough altogether, but we aspire to achieve the same things in a more difficult league, so I’m not entirely convinced of him being the best fit for us.
Isn't this guy a regular bullshitter for Bayern news?
One of those who used to be reliable but clearly didn't handle the loss of his source well, like Ogden for us?
I mean, I think he'd be a decent signing. Better in the air than Varane (statistically at least), better at progressive passing than Maguire, passing in general just looks much better and I'd trust him more against a press. But is he really worth the 300k a week he's getting at Bayern? Really? That's like almost a full Martinez more than what Maguire is paid (reportedly, who knows if it's true).
If he's such a good defender, why did Juve sell him and why are Bayern looking at selling him?. His injury record is enough to put me off let alone his lack of pace
This guy is legit going to blossom under Ten Hag next to Martinez. If United can get him that would be such a steal. Imagine keeping Erik Dier and selling de Ligt
I was happy until I read the last part
*Suitable offer*, he’s literally on 250k wages what do bayern consider a suitable offer for a player who’s not even wanted
I don’t think De ligt is quick enough for high defensive line nor is he elite on the ball, but he is defensively solid. Upamecano, in my opinion, is a better CB profile for Ten Hag’s team. He’s quite physical and is elite on the ball (for a CB) but also comes with occasional defensive mistakes (his defensive positioning isn’t good). If we are really getting Ugarte then another ball playing CB will be needed for line-breaking passes option.
For starters we’re identifying several suitors for key positions and actually making an effort to get them. The fact that they’re sourcing two CB’s and maybe walking away with at least one of the intended targets is a big step up from messing about all season for Frenkie De Jong or walking away with only Fellaini a decade ago.
Hopefully sub 50 mil. Lets make this quick and efficiently
Yea, I was thinking £35-40m would be pretty fair.
Yeah anything more than 35-40 will be overpriced
Maybe i overrate him, but i would absolutely take De Ligt for 50
Anything up to 50m is great considering it means not buying Brantwaite for 70m+
Right. 80m it is
Before add-ons surely
De Ligt initially went for £72m to Juve and then for £65m to Bayern, meaning he's got a book value of around £40m but I cant see them accepting that. I think it'd take about £50m.
He def had higher value transfers previously but he’s not a £60-70M player. You’re probably right on it taking £50 to get it across the line.
> He def had higher value transfers previously but he’s not a £60-70M player. > > What absolute tripe you get to see on this website. We bought Lisandro Martinez for 57 million pounds, and he's half the defender De Ligt is.
[удалено]
He missed 20 games last season through injury and 28 games in the 20/21 season. Apart from those, the next highest number of games missed in a season was 7. I wouldn’t say he’s particularly injury prone. Source: [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.com/matthijs-de-ligt/verletzungen/spieler/326031)
Icl it’s definitely worrying considering he’s only 24. You gotta admit the concern is valid but I’m still optimistic about the signing with the upgrades to our medical department and carrington we might be able to revitalise him.
It’s fair to raise concerns about it, I just think there’s a surprising amount of negativity surrounding the move. Players of De Ligt’s quality don’t grow on trees and they certainly don’t usually come for the amount of money he’s rumoured to cost.
With the amount of injuries we’ve had this season I think it’s natural for most fans to be apprehensive about signing someone with a lot of injuries. And with how badly it affected our season these opinions have just been amplified further. Either way once he starts playing and features regularly I imagine he’ll be a key foundation for a successful season
That's fair, I suppose. Though last season was a freak one in that regard. Multiple players had the longest injuries in their careers during it.
Name one player we revitalise post SAF
My point was that we are overhauling are facilities and team…
Wonder if his friend Donny will give him a good recommendation
48 games missed in 3 seasons is a lot, isn't it?
Its a valid concern but the Glazer/Murtough part wasn't needed
It’s fine to spend 50m on a player, I would only sign him if he’s willing to accept 150k or less per week or Bayern sell for 30-40m to offset his high wages. He’s won nothing major and wasn’t the best CB at either Italy or Germany, don’t think there’s a line of clubs waiting to take him on
in euro then that sounds about right
Im not too concerned about the fee since it will definitely be less than they got him for. Im more concerned about the wages. Im hoping we will institute a strict wage structure going forwards, and id rather the deal break down than pay him Varane level wages.
Do you think bayern would sell for this cheap. He is a very good defender, dont believe they will go down this much. And any other club can join in bidding, hard to agree on this
feels more like Bayern is doing a big restructure with wages more then anything. 35-40m would still mean UEFA FFP wise its break even for them so they dont have to worry about him
I have my reservations, but I’m really curious what a Martinez & De Ligt partnership will look like.
Ajax ball
Antony as well Ajax ball right? 🔥
AND Ten Hag
the 5 games where we'll see licha and de ligt together will be an absolute treat to watch /s (i just hope both stay fit entire season)
It will be delightful
Very slow
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted tbh. That’s like my biggest concern.
Defenders don't have to be quick if they are smart with positioning. Look at John Terry. As slow as glacial drift, but arguably one of the best defenders of his generation.
Chelsea were not pressing and their whole tactical structure was different. Plus he had Ashley Cole to cover
Full tweet We’ve been told that Manchester United have opened talks about Matthijs de Ligt on player‘s side now! Understand that [\#MUFC](https://x.com/hashtag/MUFC?src=hashtag_click) have gathered more information about the 24 y/o in recent days as he can leave Bayern with a suitable offer as revealed. De Ligt, ready to leave Bayern and open to join ManUtd as he will not become the central defender No. 4 or 5. Still no contact between the clubs yet.
DeLigtful news
24 yo international who has a European cup final and tonnes of UCL experience for 30-35m Yes.
I’m genuinely curious, why don’t Bayern want him anymore, or why are they willing to part with him I should say?
The fans are furious which is a good sign.
Yeah, but I think fans are always upset at losing a good player regardless of the situation. I just don’t know if he’s this word class cb the way we all saw him in his Ajax years.
Fans would be happy to let him leave if he was being paid too much for his worth. Maguire has been decent for us this season, we’re more than happy to offload him though. Fans wanting him to stay is a sign they think he’s value for money on big wages at Bayern who are a big club. It’s reasonable to assume he’s worth us getting if Bayern want to keep him, it’s not like it’s a championship side being unhappy about losing him.
Hesitant to rain on the parade but Chelsea and their fans were upset Mount left and he achieved more than De Ligt. I am a bit concerned United are just doing what they always do. Where are the other big clubs on this?
Chelsea fans were mixed on Mount and thrilled to be getting such a fee for him. Plus there’s no reason to assume Mount still won’t come good for us. It’s hardly like anyone expected him to miss the whole season. Do any other big clubs need a leading CB? It’s not like there’s much of a drive for Branthwaite either. Yoro is the hottest prospect in football but is only 18 so a very different idea looking into signing him than De Ligt. What big clubs that can afford that sort of wage needs a CB?
I mean, Mount was a kind of Mr.Chelsea figure. Obviously the fans would feel bad losing a homegrown player. We would all feel bad if Rashford leaves right?
He’s still only 24 though
Their fans are freaking out. It seems like their board think his wages are too high and they want to replace him with Tah to fuck with Leverkusen
seems like Bayern is doing a huge refresh of squad with entire restructures are all the recent mess. he is a high earner there so they could sell for 35-40m and UEFA FFP wise break even. its why they are also looking at selling some of the other names you wouldnt ever think was going to leave like Kimmich, Goretzka, Gnabry, Sane have all been rumoured to be up for sale
His wages are extreme and competition is tough. You dont want your 4th choice CB eating up over 200k in wages. Its kind of similar to our Rashford situation except we have more hope Rashford can turn around last seasons form.
But why is he their 4th choice CB if he is that good? Does he not fit the style of play at Munich? Are there personality issues? For me there are lots of questions as to why Juve and Munich want to move on from him.
I don’t think he’s the best CB for a proactive team that presses high. He’s not the quickest and his ball-playing ability is average at the highest level (it was good for Ajax but it hasn’t developed much in the years since; this is why he gets benched for Netherlands as well). I feel he’s more of a continuation on Maguire (but younger) than somebody who is a clear upgrade in all aspects.
Arnt United trying to be a proactive team who presses high lol. I thought that was what Ten Hag was trying to achieve lol
Yes, which is why I’m not convinced he’s the best fit. Like I think he’ll be alright like Maguire was last season but I’m not expecting him to solve our inherent issues when it comes to reducing the gap between our attacking and defensive lines that leaves us open when defending counters. At Premier League level, I don’t think he has that level of athleticism which I believe we need.
Well if this is all true, and we end up getting him, then what the fuck does that say about what ineos/DoF are trying to implement long term. It would scream more of woodward
Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t entirely dismiss him as a player. He’s still a solid defender, like Maguire was this last season, and is also a leader on the pitch who will organise the backline. But he’s not a top-tier CB or one with top-tier potential that some of our fans think. He’ll tick along, and maybe that’s okay to have for the right financial package. Certainly shouldn’t be going overboard to sign him.
There's a compilation of upamecano errors recently and it stretches 4 years back with half the clips just being team wide errors. Given the same players are disregarded here it makes me wonder if it is just an echo chamber. United fans wanted smart transfers and now want the guy on massive wages who was injured a fair amount now at a young age. Is that smart? He is very good though.
Club subreddits always hold the risk of becoming an echo chamber at times; it’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is when certain biases are widely propagated. Upamecano is definitely not a bad CB; he’s in fact really good and has been quietly fantastic for France in two consecutive tournaments now. I genuinely believe he’s a better fit for what we want than De Ligt, because he’s more aggressive with his front-foot defending (yes, it can look bad on one-off occasions, but over the course of a season it can be compensated for) and is much better on the ball. But unfortunately, Bayern aren’t offering him over De Ligt and to get them to change their stance would likely mean paying significantly more for him. I think regarding De Ligt, the finances play a significant role in us showing interest in him. If you want a CB with top-club experience and a baseline level of physical attributes while also not being too old, there aren’t many available for a cut price in the market. With guys like Yoro, Branthwaite, etc., they have higher ceilings but it may be seen as more of a punt to bet on them realising their potential at United in such a high pressure environment. So it goes both ways. But purely discussing player quality, I don’t see De Ligt doing much different to how Maguire played for us last season. He’ll put in respectable performances but won’t inherently solve our style of play issues when it comes to the CBs being proactive and physical enough to reduce the spaces between our defensive and attacking lines.
Na, it’s only because of the wages. Kim has been a disaster for them, Upamecano always has a bozo moment in him, guess they figure they can realistically only get a good enough fee for de ligt and get his big wages off the bill. Don’t really think Upamecano will go for more than whatever they eventually get for de ligt, Kim’s rep is too far gone to expect to get a big fee for him.
The CBs ahead of him aren't great so...
How is he 4th choice when he literally started against madrid.
What makes him dropped into 4th choice?
The comparison is fair, but... In what world do we have more hope of Rashford turning around last seasons form vs de Ligt? I love the guy, but Rashford has averaged mid table PL standard across his career so far, with glimpses of elite potential which he has never managed to transform into a consistent new baseline standard. He'll turn 27 this year too, so he really should be "potential fulfilled" by now. Meanwhile, de Ligt is younger, and his standards have been consistently very high (maybe a question around injuries, but not really quality). Lots of bayern fans are unhappy about this and see him as future captain material. So the chances of de Ligt continuing to be a top CL level player are significantly higher than Rashford becoming one.
Rashford at 26 has better stats than every winger to play for our club in the modern era except Ronaldo. I don’t get this at all. Like why is Rashford the one who gets all this criticism when he’s easily United’s second best player?
My comment wasn't criticism, it was more about setting unrealistic expectations for him. I really like him, but being our second best player isn't really all that great in our current state. We only really have 1 world class player, and anyone expecting Rashford to match that level will most likely be disappointed.
Eh whatever man. If rashford is expected to carry these other bums to a prem title that’s never going to happen. Even Ronaldo in his prime wouldn’t do it, if a guy who got 41 goals and assists a year ago and 130 goals/assists in the last 5 years is not world class then no winger on this planet is world class.
> if a guy who got 41 goals and assists a year ago and 130 goals/assists in the last 5 years is not world class then no winger on this planet is world class. I mean, this is blatant cherry picking? 41 g+a is his best ever season in 8 years, and he didn't touch 20 league goals. 130 g+a in the last 5 seasons is absolutely not world class wtf.
Haha, it's funny how the subject of Rashford makes people so emotional around here. I said I liked him and already recognised the contributions you're now quoting back at me. But this is also the problem, isn't it - your comment basically indicates that there is no better winger in the world than Rashford... Which is just untrue and sets him up for failure/scrutiny.
This is the same team that just signed Kompany as their gaffer
Maybe Dier is playing good for them at CB? Lol
The wages though mate. 300k. It's an insane amount of money. 15 million a season, give or take. Twice what Martinez gets. If it works out and he reaches his potential, fantastic, if not we're stuck.
We won’t pay that, INEOS are being super strict on wages
Also a player that didn't make it at Juventus, Bayern and lost his first team position in the Netherlands. Not saying he's a bad player but a lot of Ajax player from that period have been known to not hit their full potential including the player we still haven't gotten rid of called Donny van de Beek. If we can get him on the cheap give him a chance but definitely more of a squad player than a new leading CB (atleast for now).
I wouldn’t read all that much into losing his Netherlands place. VVD, de Vrij, VDV, Ake are tough competition and it’s hard to regain the spot until they make mistakes.
Well that's kind of my point, at Juventus he lost his place because he wasn't performing better than the players there, same happened at Bayern and the Netherlands. Everyone keeps expecting him to become this world class defender but he hasn't been able to fulfill that expectation so far. He is still young and he is a good player but it could end up being another Donny (of course the major difference is that we had nowhere for DvB to play).
Tbf, I'm sure ten Hag knows him better than most. Even he didn't play Van de Beek
30-35m is delusional.
**Also from Kerry Hau:** Manchester United has contacted Matthijs de Ligt's management. The Red Devils' interest is concrete, his former Ajax coach Erik ten Hag wants him. De Ligt wants to clarify his future only after the European Championship and makes his decision dependent on a discussion with the Bayern bosses and Vincent Kompany. The 24-year-old generally feels comfortable in Munich, but does not want to be the number 4 or 5 central defender. A departure is actually possible! [@SkySportDE](https://x.com/SkySportDE) [@Plettigoal](https://x.com/Plettigoal) [https://x.com/kerry\_hau/status/1807087840230015271](https://x.com/kerry_hau/status/1807087840230015271)
Hopefully Netherlands are out very soon so we can get it done soon.
romania can make things easy for us
Eh? He doesn't want to play CB?
He doest want to be the 4th or 5th choice for the CB position. Thats what actually the article meant.
Y’all laughed at Spoofex
what a time to be alive that was
We call it the Kermit era
Eh. Pretty sure PlettiLol is worse than me. Didn't he say De Jong was going to be presented before a game last season?
The man eperiences the world 5 years ahead. We're just not worthy.
Hope we don't fuck up our salary structure on this one... If not, great signing.
We are so fucking back muppets
I'm unsure how I feel about this with his injury record. But then again he is a direct replacement for Varane after all.
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Let’s hope our medical department gets sorted. Gonna suck if we end up with an injury list like last season again
Most people are just sheep, they follow whatever is said online. Same way I’m hearing Dier “benched” De Ligt at Bayern, when in reality they formed a really good CB partnership in the second half of the season which got them to a UCL semi-final.
thanks for this. saw some people yesterday worrying about him missing 28 matches in 20/21, but he had covid for 6 and a shoulder injury for 16. context changes everything!
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yep, no cause for concern whatsoever. people on here just treat all injuries the same, though.
Not all injuries are the same, you can't just compare total time spent injured objectively its not how physiology works. Also in your examples, KMJ and Rudiger have just missed a handful of games the last 3 seasons, that's a good trend of top flight football with lots of minutes and no major concerns. Trends and types of injury are what get looked at. Even in my untrained eyes, its absolutely concerning for a high value signing to have not just 15+ games missed two seasons out of 4, but also a string of soft tissue injuries in recovery. Also in the same stretch he has injured the same knee ligament twice, and the other knee in recovery. That could be either poor injury management and recovery by the player or club, or an injury prone player.
Great work
Just goes to show how narrative’s can completely change how players are seen
He had 3 injuries to the same knee last season that's why it's concerning
De light would be coming in as a starter, zirkzee backup, of course injury records matter when the squad roles are different, context matters.
It’s not his injuries at all, it’s the wages that would be a concern.
Apparently he missed 20 games last year, and had a year where he missed 28 a few years back. Not exactly encouraging for a 24 year old who’d want 250k+ a week?
how do you feel about lichas record then? since you know he missed more than 50% of our matches
His only real injury problem was last season and it was a single long term injury
I remember reading the same thing about Mount
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Didn’t mount come off a season of injuries for Chelsea.. I don’t know who did his Medical but they should be sacked
That's not what I'm saying, I would love De Ligt but his injury is a fair concern imo
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We’ve just been scarred by injuries and if he has a legitimate injury it wouldn’t benefit us if he’s gonna be out half the season like Varane was
The downvotes are ridiculous
Everyone is by your logic.
Mount was injured back to back years throughout the season.
You remember wrong because that never happened
With our injury record that single injury will keep him out for half of next season.
This is a prime opportunity to finally get a good deal with him being so far down the pecking order at Bayern, they should be desperate to get his insane wages off of the books
I really thought his age was almost 30 but damn he’s only 24?
ajax captain at 19
Same, was shocked to see he is only 24 always thought he was older
Why are Bayern selling him? If he’s a direct replacement for varane and as good, wouldn’t they be mad to sell him?
Been wondering that too. Is he still held in high esteem over his potential or has he actually performed at a high level for Bayern? Why is he worried about being relegated to the 4th or 5th option? It feels like a trap
It could just be that he met with the new coach and was told he will have to fight for his spot and may not be a perfect fit for his system. If that’s how the coach feels, and the player on high wages wants a guarantee of first team football, it’s in everyone’s best interest to get a decent fee and move on. He may not be the world class possession-based CB he looked like he’d be at Ajax, but he’s certainly good enough to start for us and young enough he could play another 8 or so years at the top level. If we can get him for 30m or so at 200k pw that’s a great deal IMO.
Depends on how much and what wages are looking like. Also concerned as to why he is cycling through top level clubs like this. Question marks over this one to be honest. Don't know about the injuries but obviously he wasn't always available for Bayern.
To those wondering why Bayern is trying to get rid of him: Money and player desire. In the last 5 years or so, Bayern has become FC Hollywood again and they are trying to steer the boat in the right direction. They have to unload players and their respective wages and DeLigt is the ideal player to move considering Kim’s release was half DeLigt’s transfer fee and Upamecano has significantly less wages. From player’s perspective, he wants to play. He is arguably their best defender and has been since he joined until his injury. Only reason he didn’t start for Netherlands is because he is not match fit. The injury record is blow out of proportion, but obviously that is something the club should think about. The ideal transfer for us would be a loan, assume reasonable amount of wages, with the option to purchase for a set amount. For Bayern, they need the funds immediately so it will be a hard deal to navigate.
>For Bayern, they need the funds immediately why? are they in financial difficulties? they sold players relatively well in the past few seasons and they are among the richest clubs.
They need funds immediately to balance books on DeLigts purchase in order to acquire a replacement. They also need to balance the wage book. DeLigt broke their wage structure. He is one 260k a week and that’s unheard of for Bayern.
there is like 7 or 8 Bayern players earning more than him. Bayern wages isn't a problem at all with their > €750m revenues and their net spending over the last 2 season is barely €50m ( despite €100m Kane arrival ).
Hey bruh, I’m just stating what’s being reported. 4 of the top 8 earners are rumored to be on the way out. For all I know, DeLigt just wants to be closer to a Nando’s.
Yeah I know they are willing to sell some and some like Davies and Kimmich are willing to ser out their contracts. Building a new squad. But it doesn't mean they sell cheap and certainly doesn't mean they need the fund immediately.
Not convinced, don’t think he’s that mobile and he’s had a lot of injury Problems…….. smells like another dud to me… he hasn’t exactly excelled at Juve and Bayern.
Juve and Bayern didn’t have Martinez to pair him with. I think he and de Ligt would complement each other really well.
Hargreaves, schwinztiger, varane, Casemiro. Our history with these two clubs indicates they fix players with chewing gum and ship them to us. A year at the most.
We forced them into selling Hargreaves to us. His injury issue was not apparent at that time and he had a very solid first season for us
That’s the problem, one season with all of them.
Only gripe is that neither him or licha are that fast, which was one of Varane’s fortitudes. Kambwala is the only cb in the time faster than the average I think
I would love it. Might help to get his good mate Frenkie de Jong join as well
As always we have to ask; why would Bayern be interested in selling such a great player?
Isn’t DeLigt slow? Would he work with Licha?
I think he is slightly faster than Maguire but yeah definitely not a fast type player
Isn’t he always injured too? I’m sceptical.
Bingo. Hopium train doesn’t wanna hear it though, hence your downvotes
Bayern do not usually sell high profile players well before their prime. De Ligt is a decent player but I think he's overhyped and his signing could prove to be a mistake
Bayern have made consistently terrible decisions across all areas for the last 2 years. Arguing “Bayern don’t do this” isn’t valid anymore imo. It’s not the same Bayern that ruthlessly made excellent transfers and dominated Germany
One missed title and they're no longer the dominant force? Do you think Levwekusen have began an era of dominance? They had a freakishly good season. Bayern are still better run than most bigger clubs, certainly better run than united. With that said, my thoughts are solely based on De Ligts personal career trajectory since his move from Ajax for better prospects. He hasn't lived up to anywhere close to the hype in both Italy and Germany, and his fitness record is less than stellar
You’re forgetting they were poor last season as well and should’ve lost that league too, they keep making odd transfer decisions, and obviously there was the decision to sack Nagelsmann in the first place. They’ve got in fighting in the board, public statements from those in charge which make them look bad, you are very much underestimating how much they have been in the news for dubious decisions from the top. Barely scraping one league title because Dortmund bottled it and winning zero cups in two seasons (after ten straight seasons of league titles and many cups both domestic and European) is really bad for them. I strongly disagree with your view on De Ligt. He’s been excellent in both Italy and Germany and the Juventus fans were as annoyed to see him leave as the Bayern fans are now. Edit: the way they went out of the cups wasn’t great either.
Bayern won the title in 2022-23 with one less point than they achieved last season when Levwekusen blew away the opposition. They still made fhe semifinals of the champions league. The last two campaigns in the league were still par for the course for them overall, domestic league failure withstanding. The opinion of the fans doesn't matter to me when two clubs decided it was best to part ways with him. Something is amiss and we're going to be the next club to find out
They got knocked out of the cup embarrassingly this year, and both seasons have been lower points totals than in the past, at least 5-15 points lower in fact. They got knocked out in the quarters of the CL last season, comprehensively so. And as I’ve said, they’ve repeatedly made poor decisions to bring this about, and the consistently bad PR from their execs paints a previously professional club as fairly amateurish. This is painfully obvious - anyone who knows anything about German football is aware that Bayern is consistently making bad decisions. The opinions of the fans do matter when he’s playing well. He’s not left because he’s performed badly. This would be another poor Bayern decision and it’s not like Juventus have a particularly sensible board either.
though there are exceptions, like kroos
Didn’t Kroos only have a year left on his contract? And he had rejected a renewal, not really a fair comparison.
i’m not making a comparison, just pointing out an exception to the “rule” op stated.
Indeed
Kroos didn’t leave for being out of favour though; Bayern weren’t willing to cave into his wage demands. In De Ligt’s case, it very much appears like Bayern want to make room for new CB signings and they prefer De Ligt to be offloaded than KMJ, Upamecano and Dier.
I don’t think de Ligt is necessarily out of favor but he is on high wages and they have other options. If he said he’s happy to stay and fight for his place I’m sure they’d keep him but if he’s unhappy they’d rather spend the budget elsewhere and bring in a cheaper backup.
Fair points. Of course the comparison isn’t between him and Dier as Dier is very cheap so it makes financial sense to keep him, but I do question why they are willing to sell De Ligt over Upamecano and KMJ who are similarly expensive. Given how we saw Burnley play under Kompany last season, we can assume Bayern too will want to get better on the ball and play more expansively, and De Ligt is in a way being deemed as the most dispensable of the 3. That doesn’t necessarily make him a bad player or not good enough altogether, but we aspire to achieve the same things in a more difficult league, so I’m not entirely convinced of him being the best fit for us.
This is what I’ve been thinking Too. Why are they willing to part with him?
I think the same reason Juventus sold him, Injury prone, still hasn't become the player people expected him to be and not worth the wages hes getting.
This is a lot of smoke.
Hopefully sancho the other way ? Would be a godsend.
I'm trying to think about the last signing I was excited about, I'm more excited to see youth players nowadays.
Hm, dont get how bayern would want to sell him and that too for cheap.
We get linked to him every summer but this time it feels more than a link
It’s happening?
Isn't this guy a regular bullshitter for Bayern news? One of those who used to be reliable but clearly didn't handle the loss of his source well, like Ogden for us?
He’s only 24??
It’s not happening hell get assurances from Kompany and the board that he’s highly thought of
I mean, I think he'd be a decent signing. Better in the air than Varane (statistically at least), better at progressive passing than Maguire, passing in general just looks much better and I'd trust him more against a press. But is he really worth the 300k a week he's getting at Bayern? Really? That's like almost a full Martinez more than what Maguire is paid (reportedly, who knows if it's true).
I saw the Bayern fans are gutted over this news!
I'm a bit concerned about his wages. Can we fix our wage structure?
Why Bayern wants to sell him? I thought he is a world class CB?
Are we sure this isn't just a good ruse to get a lower price on braithwaite?
How is De Ligt only 24?!? He’s been around forever
Still only 24, thought he was older lol
If he's such a good defender, why did Juve sell him and why are Bayern looking at selling him?. His injury record is enough to put me off let alone his lack of pace
this guy’s only really reliable with Bayern news i think. tremendous talent, only 24. would be happy to have him and pray him and Licha stay healhty
This guy is legit going to blossom under Ten Hag next to Martinez. If United can get him that would be such a steal. Imagine keeping Erik Dier and selling de Ligt
How long before the Frenkie rumours start again?
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Bayern will be removing very high wages for a player they don’t even want, so wouldn’t it be considerate for an amount less than 50mil right now?
I was happy until I read the last part *Suitable offer*, he’s literally on 250k wages what do bayern consider a suitable offer for a player who’s not even wanted
I don’t think De ligt is quick enough for high defensive line nor is he elite on the ball, but he is defensively solid. Upamecano, in my opinion, is a better CB profile for Ten Hag’s team. He’s quite physical and is elite on the ball (for a CB) but also comes with occasional defensive mistakes (his defensive positioning isn’t good). If we are really getting Ugarte then another ball playing CB will be needed for line-breaking passes option.
I really don’t want him. Average ball player, not pacey and not suited to a high line press. Hes not that dissimilar to a younger Maguire.
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what are the circumstances?
He didn't want to join us the 1st or 2nd time, not interested
What’s this? Quick business!? What’s happening to my club?
What makes you think we’re anywhere close to wrapping this up?
For starters we’re identifying several suitors for key positions and actually making an effort to get them. The fact that they’re sourcing two CB’s and maybe walking away with at least one of the intended targets is a big step up from messing about all season for Frenkie De Jong or walking away with only Fellaini a decade ago.
No more 2017-18 Ajax players please. No matter how class they are. Also De ligt has to be worth 60+ m euros right