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August 10 2024
Manchester United: Manchester United has finalized an agreement with Bayern Munich to sign Matthijs de Ligt. The center-back is set to join Old Trafford in a deal worth €45 million, plus an extra €5 million in add-ons. Once he passes his medical, De Ligt will sign a five-year contract with United, with the option to extend for an additional year.
The arrival of the 24-year-old Netherlands international - who has previously played for Juventus and Ajax - strengthens manager Erik ten Hag's squad with a young but highly experienced and highly qualified defender.
Bayern have separately accepted an offer of €15m plus €5m in bonuses from United for full-back Noussair Mazraoui - a proposed transfer dependent on fellow 26-year-old Aaron Wan-Bissaka leaving the Premier League club.
West Ham United have agreed a £15 million fee with Manchester United for Wan-Bissaka, while negotiations over the length of the deal are ongoing.
The move is still dependent on Wan-Bissaka finalising his dismissal from Manchester United.
The east London side are scheduled to undergo a medical examination on Sunday or Monday.
Wan-Bissaka has made 190 first-team appearances for United since joining from Crystal Palace in 2019 for an initial £45 million.
The arrival of De Ligt might indicate a shift in fashion
Anantaajith Raghuraman provided the analysis
De Ligt should be a good addition to United's current defensive options following Raphael Varane's exit as a free agent at the end of last season. He is a right-footed right centre-back who should fit perfectly alongside the left-footed, left-back Lisandro Martinez.
De Ligt has had injury problems in recent years. However, after a poor 2020-21 season in Italy, he has missed just 27 matches for club and country over the past three seasons, the same as Harry Maguire and fewer than the latter's fellow United centre-backs Victor Lindelof (31) and Martinez (67).
There is also no doubt about what De Ligt will bring as a leader to United following the departure of World Cup and four-time Champions League winner Varane.
However, questions arise when considering Ten Hag's comments about his playing style. Last October, after a 3-0 loss to Manchester City in a home derby, he said, "The way we played at Ajax just won’t happen here. Ajax had a unique style, but here, we’re going to play much more directly." And that's what we have the players for, especially at the front (of the pitch).
By bringing in De Ligt, perhaps Ten Hag is signalling that he is ready for a change and to return to a more possession-based, fluid playing style rather than the chaotic, end-to-end football played by United last season.
De Ligt is great with the ball at his feet. Last season, he nailed 93.9% of his passes on average, with 77.50 passes per game. He also had a 76.9% success rate on long balls, using his skill to stretch the defense and create opportunities. Last season, even in one of his worst seasons, due to those injuries and a lack of consistent playing time, De Ligt's passing was still excellent.
Matthijs de Ligt completed 1,193 passes in the Bundesliga, with 8.2 percent being progressive—meaning they pushed the ball forward at least 10 yards toward the opponent’s goal—and 9.1 percent reaching the final third. By comparison, only 5.4 percent of Lisandro Martinez’s 1,528 passes in the 2022-23 Premier League were progressive, and 6.0 percent made it into the final third. Similarly, 6.6 percent of Harry Maguire’s 1,103 passes were progressive, with 7.1 percent reaching the final third.
Even accounting for the differences between the Bundesliga and Premier League, it’s clear that De Ligt could significantly boost United’s ability to build up play from the back with more forward-driven, line-breaking passes.
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