- Man United are in talks over the arrival of Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt
- De Ligt worked with United manager Erik ten Hag at Ajax five years ago
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Bayern Munich supporters have started a petition to block the transfer of Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United.
De Ligt has indicated that he wants to go to Manchester United and would like to work with his former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
United are prepared to offer De Ligt, 24, a five-year contract if they can agree a £42million deal, including extensions, with Bayern Munich, who need the money to sign Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah as his replacement.
And Bayern fans were far from impressed by the reports that poured in last summer.
They have even gone so far as to set up a petition to stop the possible relocation, with over 14,000 people signing the petition as of Thursday evening.
Matthijs de Ligt has reportedly given the green light for a potential move to Manchester United
The petition description reads: ‘We all want Matthijs de Ligt to stay at FC Bayern Munich! He has proven to be a world-class defender, probably the best in our squad.
‘It is not without reason that he has been voted our best player in the 2022/23 season. Moreover, he is only 24 years old and has a bright future ahead of him, which he will use to realize his enormous potential.
‘Despite his young age, Mattha is already very mature and has a great mentality, which will undoubtedly make him a leading figure in defence and probably a contender for the captaincy in a few years’ time.
‘His fluent English, German and Dutch would help him enormously. At 19, he already captained Ajax Amsterdam to the semi-finals of the UCL.
‘Selling Matthijs de Ligt would be a terrible decision and we would definitely regret it. That’s why we are using our voice to draw attention to the fact that we will NOT make this mistake!’
After Ten Hag took over the reins at Ajax in 2018, he made De Ligt the club’s youngest ever captain. The club won both the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup in the 2018-2019 season.
In the same campaign they also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
De Ligt joined Juventus that summer and signed for Bayern Munich in 2022 for £68million.
He has now played 73 games for the club and helped the club win the Bundesliga title and the German Super Cup.
If the transfer goes ahead, De Ligt will join former Ajax players Antony, Donny van de Beek, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and André Onana at Old Trafford.
Manchester United lost Raphael Varane this summer and Victor Lindelof’s future at the club is also uncertain.