Manchester United sign Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt for £42.9m
Manchester United have completed the signing of defender Matthijs de Ligt from German club Bayern Munich. The former Ajax and Juventus star joins Man United for a deal worth €50m (£42.9m). Manchester United will pay an initial €45m (£38.6m) plus €5m (£4.3m) in add-ons. Notably, the payment will be done over three years. He is the club's second central defender signing this summer.
Why does this story matter?
Manchester United were in the market to strengthen their defense and they first roped in Leny Yoro. However, with Yoro getting injured and subsequently being ruled out for three months, the Premier League club seeked depth and got de Ligt. Erik ten Hag worked with de Ligt at Ajax. He played for Juventus before joining the Bavarians. It's a sound signing for the club.
De Ligt made moves to Juventus (£67.5m) and Bayern (£65.6m)
De Ligt started his career at Dutch club Ajax and spent three seasons there. In the summer of 2019, Italian powerhouse Juventus came calling for de Ligt, who joined the Serie A club for £67.5m. He spent three seasons at Juventus before joining Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022. Bayern spent £65.6m to Juventus for the player's services.
117 appearances each for Ajax and Juventus
De Ligt made 117 appearances across three seasons for Ajax, scoring 13 goals. In 2018-19, he made 55 appearances for the club, scoring 7 goals. At Juventus, de Ligt made 117 appearances in all competitions across three, scoring eight goals. Notably, he scored eight goals each in both Eredivisie and Serie A, having made 77 and 87 appearances respectively.
73 appearances for Bayern across two seasons
In the 2022-23 season, de Ligt made 43 appearances for Bayern in all competitions, scoring thrice. 31 of his matches came in the Bundesliga (3 goals). In 2023-24, de Ligt made just 30 appearances for the club, scoring twice. He featured 22 times in the Bundesliga. Overall, de Ligt made 73 appearances for Bayern, scoring five goals.
Breaking down his Bundesliga 2023-24 season in stats
De Ligt made 22 appearances in the Bundesliga 2023-24 season (G2). As per Squawka comparison matrix (data by Opta), de Ligt managed seven shots on target and created three chances. He owned a passing accuracy of 94.03%. De Ligt made 15 tackles, 52 clearances and 19 interceptions. He won 41 aerial duels and 25 ground duels. He clocked 22 touches in the opposition box.
De Ligt's runner-up medals and trophies
De Ligt won the Eredivisie in 2018-19 alomgside the KNVB Cup. He was a runner-up in the 2016-17 Europa League. With Juventus, he won the Serie A title in 2019-20 alongside the Coppa Italia in 2020-21. He was a runner-up in 2019-20 and 2021-22. He won the Supercoppa Italiana in 2020. With Bayern, de Ligt won the Bundesliga in 2022-23 and DFL-Supercup in 2022.
Netherlands have capped him 45 times
Netherlands have capped de Ligt on 45 occasions. He made his international debut in 2017. He has managed two goals for his nation and was a runner-up at the UEFA Nations League.
