Unwilling to renew at Juventus unless they lower his release clause and keep his wages fairly similar, Matthijs De Ligt is opening the door to a transfer this summer.
This was made clear last week, and Manchester United are in that race, according to Corriere dello Sport.
The Red Devils are ‘ready to forcefully enter the scene’ for the centre-back, where he would be reunited with Erik ten Hag, his manager when he was at Ajax Amsterdam.
Still, it’s Chelsea who are said to be in ‘pole position’, even if their first offer of €45m + Timo Werner was deemed inadequate by Juventus.
The short version here is that to get the Dutchman, his release clause (of around €120m) needs to be triggered, with just cash, no counterparts.
That’s because they don’t want to lose him, but there would be the solace that if they do at that price, they would money to work with to replace him.
Either way, unlike their Premier League rivals, ‘Manchester United have not yet taken official steps, but are ready to take them’.
Ten Hag is behind that, as he is ‘serious’ and ‘pushes to attempt an assault on the boy he launched at a very young age at Ajax’, with De Ligt seen as ‘the priority’.
Therefore, ‘an auction could open’ and an offer of €80-90m ‘could make the difference’.
First, however, you would expect Manchester United to seal the deal for Frenkie de Jong before making a move for his former teammate.
