Manchester United are hunting a new centre back this summer and Erik ten Hag is in agreement with Ineos on one potential signing.
The summer transfer window should really explode in July and Manchester United should be busy.
Erik ten Hag needs new signings after a disappointing season and centre back is a position of focus.
Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez both suffered high-profile injury problems last season and Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho is interested in signing Victor Lindelof.
United understandably want to sign central defenders but an offer for Everton talent Jarrad Branthwaite has already been rejected.
Manchester United start Matthijs de Ligt talks
United may go back in for Branthwaite.
The Everton talent is young, tall, English and left-footed, so he certainly ticks a number of boxes.
Yet with Everton demanding huge money, United may look elsewhere – and Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt is becoming a prime target.
Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg now reports that United have opened talks with De Ligt’s representatives to discuss a move to Old Trafford.
It’s stated that United have ‘gathered more information’ about De Ligt in recent days and Bayern are ready to sell.
Plettenberg adds that De Ligt not only wants to leave but would be open to joining United having dropped down the Bayern pecking order.
Talks with Bayern have not yet started but United have made a first move for De Ligt in an attempt to reunite him with Ten Hag.
Bayern are looking to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah and have already landed Japanese centre back Hiroki Ito.
Already behind Eric Dier, Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae in the pecking order, De Ligt is fast becoming a forgotten man at the Allianz Arena.
Erik ten Hag in agreement with Ineos over De Ligt
Ten Hag coached De Ligt at Ajax and famously reached the Champions League semi-finals together in 2019.
De Ligt was supposed to become a superstar but moves to Juventus and Bayern haven’t quite worked out.
Maybe it’s time for De Ligt to reunite with Ten Hag to get back on track and the United boss is unsurprisingly keen.
The Times claim that Ineos have put De Ligt forward as a possible signing and Ten Hag is in agreement about a deal.
Bayern paid £68million to sign De Ligt in 2022 but may well take a lower fee this summer as they go in a different direction at the back.
De Ligt is only 24 but finds himself unwanted at Bayern and stuck on the bench for the Netherlands.
This isn’t how De Ligt’s career was supposed to go and he must now think long and hard about moving to Old Trafford to try and fulfil some of that early potential.
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
