Manchester United fans are waiting for a first summer signing and one of Erik ten Hag’s former players could be arriving.
Some had wondered whether Erik ten Hag would lose some transfer power at Manchester United with Ineos now on board.
Lisandro Martinez, Antony, Andre Onana and Sofyan Amrabat have all reunited with Ten Hag and some wondered if that kind of move could become a thing of the past.
Jason Wilcox has been in place for a while, Dan Ashworth’s move is finally going through and Christopher Vivell is coming in on a short-term basis.
Those are three experienced men in terms of the recruitment side of the game and Ineos will put a lot of faith in them to work the transfer market.
Ten Hag will still get a say though and yet another of his former players could be set for a move to Old Trafford this summer.
Manchester United stunned by Matthijs de Ligt stance
Ineos and Ten Hag seem to have found some common ground on one target.
Reports claim that Ineos have suggested a move to sign Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt – and Ten Hag agrees.
Ten Hag coached De Ligt at Ajax, reaching the Champions League semi-finals together back in 2019.
Now surplus to requirements at Bayern, De Ligt appears to be a key target for United this summer.
Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg now claims that De Ligt to United ‘can happen quickly’ once Euro 2024 is out of the way.
Bayern want around €50million (£42million) and De Ligt is keen to make the move to United after talks with Ten Hag.
Intriguingly, Plettenberg claims that officials inside United are ‘surprised’ that Bayern are ready to let De Ligt leave.
De Ligt initially impressed at Bayern after joining from Juventus in 2022, but find himself in and out of the team last season.
Since joining the club, De Ligt has seen United sign so many other centre backs – Kim Min-jae, Eric Dier and Hiroki Ito have all joined whilst Jonathan Tah is set to follow.
That leaves De Ligt as the odd man out and Bayern’s depth at centre back could boost United with the Dutchman ready to make a big move.
Fabrizio Romano on De Ligt
A reunion between De Ligt and Ten Hag makes sense for all parties.
Bayern get a defender off the books, United land a quality centre back, Ten Hag lands a player he admires and De Ligt can play guaranteed first-team football under a manager he knows well.
A deal seems a real possibility and Fabrizio Romano claims that De Ligt has ‘given the green light’ to a move to Old Trafford.
Romano claims that personal terms are not a problem and that agent Rafaela Pimenta is only negotiating with United.
Reuniting with Ten Hag appears to be the focus for De Ligt and everything appears to be in lace between United and the defender.
A deal is not yet sorted out with Bayern though, leaving United with some work to do in the coming weeks.
