Thousands of Bayern Munich fans are said to have signed a petition against the potential sale of Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United this summer, according to Dutch journalist Marcel van der Kraan on Sky Sports News.
De Ligt hasn’t always been at his very best for Bayern, but showed some signs of improvement towards the end of last season, and it seems the club’s fans are now angry at the prospect of him being allowed to leave the Allianz Arena.
The Netherlands international is currently at Euro 2024, so that will surely be his focus for the time being, but it seems Man Utd are also making progress on signing him in time for next season, according to sources close to the deal.
See below as Van der Kraan sums up the De Ligt situation at the moment and the strong reaction of Bayern supporters to his possible departure…
"The Bayern Munich fans have started a petition saying they don't want to sell him"
Marcel van der Kraan speaks about Manchester United's interest in defender Matthijs de Ligt ? pic.twitter.com/92JcaE1pYv
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 8, 2024
De Ligt looks like an exciting potential addition for United, giving them an ideal long-term replacement for Raphael Varane, who has just left on a free transfer.
Harry Maguire, meanwhile, also surely doesn’t have much of a long-term future at United as he’s not getting any younger and has been in and out of the side under Erik ten Hag, so fans will hope De Ligt does end up joining, regardless of how upset Bayern fans might be about it.
United urgently need this new season to go right after two unconvincing years under Ten Hag, who seems to have bought himself a bit more time after winning the FA Cup final last season, even if some fans will likely be concerned that they didn’t take this opportunity to make a change.
Delivering signings like De Ligt might help MUFC, but we’ve also seen plenty of big-money and big-name signings flop at the club in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
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