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Erik ten Hag’s future at United has finally been decided, with the Dutchman being given a vote of confidence from the Old Trafford directors.
The three-week-long post-season review concluded this week that the Red Devils performances this season have been vastly impacted by the extensive list of injuries and are not a true reflection of ten Hag’s work.
However, the rise of young stars like Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, who ultimately won the FA Cup final for United, show what the Dutchman is capable of.
With ten Hag now looking ahead and planning for next season, all attention can be on the transfer market and strengthening the squad for next season.
Prior to his fate being sealed, ten Hag voiced concerns that United may be left behind this transfer season if the management situation could not be settled soon.
Now that the United manager knows he’s staying, he’s wasted no time in asking the club to enquire about the availability of one of Bayern’s key players.
With Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the directors taking on more of a key role in recruitment at Old Trafford, Florian Plettenberg has reported on X that ten Hag has turned to the club to put in his request for Matthijs de Ligt.
Despite being only 24 years old, De Ligt has had a truly impressive career since graduating from the Ajax youth academy in 2017.
During his two years as part of the senior squad before making a big-money move to Juventus, de Ligt made 117 appearances, grabbing 13 goals and 7 assists, completing the Dutch double in 2018/19 by captaining his team to winning the Eredivisie and the Toto KNVB Beker trophy as the youngest captain ever of Ajax.
Not only the youngest captain that Ajax has seen, he also holds the record as the youngest debutant of the Dutch squad since 1945, the youngest starting player for a Dutch club in a European competition, and the youngest captain in a knock-out phase of the Champions League at the age of 19 years and 186 days.
These achievements for Ajax made the defender stand out in world football, winning him the coveted Golden Boy award in 2018 and then the Dutch Footballer of the Year award in 2019.
By the age of 20, de Ligt already had achieved an immense amount, securing him a move to Serie A with Juventus in 2019 for €85.5 million, de Ligt continued his winning ways, winning the Italian League in 2019/20, then the Italy Cup in 2020/21 beating Atalanta 2-1 in the final.
His 117 appearances for Juve with 8 goals and 3 assists, as well as his continued impressive performances for the Dutch national squad, saw German giants Bayern Munich come knocking in 2022, paying €67 million for the talented defender.
Adding to his collection of trophies, since moving to Bayern, de Ligt helped the German club to win the Bundesliga in 2022/23 and the DFL-Supercup in the same year beating RB Leipzig 5-3.
Not only a club star, the centre-back has so far made 45 appearances for the Dutch national squad, including call-ups to the Euros 2020 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. De Ligt has once again made it into the national squad for this year’s European championships in Germany, where Netherlands have been drawn in a group with Poland, Austria and favourites, France.
Although there have not been any concrete moves from United yet, with the club just gaining information on the young star’s potential to leave Bayern this summer, it’s clear to see why ten Hag is so interested in securing the key centre-back.
At this time it’s believed the current price tag for the Dutch defender is around €50 million, which with United’s transfer budget of £50 million (just under €60 million), the club may need to offload some assets before making the move for the 24-year-old.
