First it was Chelsea, then it was Liverpool, and now we have Manchester United linked (once again) with Matthijs De Ligt.
The Dutch centre-back was heavily rumoured to be a target for the Red Devils back when he was still an Ajax player, prior to his move to Juventus, but with a lot of talk concerning a renewal in Turin and Erik ten Hag now being in charge at Old Trafford, it’s all happening again.
It mostly comes from Italy, as you might have guessed, with Gazzetta dello Sport explaining that if De Ligt doesn’t sign a new contract with the Serie A side, he could be sold.
They state that in the event he ‘forces a sale’, the plan B would be triggered at Juventus, which would be to cash in on him.
The question is who can afford him, since he has a release clause of €120m, which no one will trigger, and therefore the hope would be to make ‘at least €70m’ from a transfer.
Barcelona, while always keen, are too broke to do anything, meaning the ‘most logical destinations’ are Stamford Bridge and Manchester United, ‘now coached by Ten Hag’, who already worked with the centre-back at Ajax.
This is echoed by Tuttosport, who seem to think that any move would have to involve the €120m, before adding that the one club ‘who would welcome him with open arms is Manchester United’.
That’s because, next season, they ‘will have Erik ten Hag on the bench’, who is the man who ‘raised him at Ajax and who would like him with him in the Premier League’.
