Man Utd and Ajax come to agreement over Matthijs de Ligt transfer

Posted Saturday, July 06, 2019 by Dailystar.co.uk

Man Utd and Ajax come to agreement over Matthijs de Ligt transfer (Pic: GETTY)

MANCHESTER UNITED and Ajax have come to an agreement over Matthijs de Ligt’s transfer, according to French football expert Julian Laurens.

United are in desperate need of a centre-back after a particularly leaky year at the back for the club.

They conceded 54 league goals - their worst tally since 1978/79 - as they finished sixth in the Premier League.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is determined to bankroll Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and has already whacked his chequebook out after signing Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

And a list of defensive targets have stretched from Harry Maguire of Leicester to West Ham’s Issa Diop.

But the man that they would especially covet is Ajax sensation De Ligt - who is the most sought after teenager in the game.

The 19-year-old was exceptional for the Dutch outfit last season, captaining them to an Eredivisie title and a semi-final in the Champions League.

Juventus, Paris St-Germain and Barcelona are in for the Netherlands international.

But Laurens has revealed that United are one of the big clubs also vying for his signature.

Juve have been the most interested but are toiling over the price-tag - offering just €55m - far below the asking price, which both PSG and United will pay.

“I think there’s a chance where Ajax will lose a little bit of patience and say ‘hang on a minute, PSG agreed, Manchester United agreed. In that case we stop talking to you and De Ligt can choose between the clubs that we actually have an agreement in place’,” Laurens told ESPN FC.

“It’s not really in Ajax’s interest to waste a bit more time about De Ligt.

“They want the money in, they want for him to go, he was great for them but now he’s decided that he wants to go.

“They want that deal to happen, they won’t want to have to go back and forth in negotiations with Juventus or whoever else.

“So they might well say ‘do you know what, we already have an agreement in place with some clubs, we’re going to only focus on them clubs and De Ligt would have to choose between those clubs because you’re wasting our time’.

“Maybe at some point the money will run out after some of the deals that they’ve done and the ones that they are hoping to make, like Mauro Icardi for example, like Paul Pogba as well.

“Maybe they’re thinking ‘do you know what, we can try to lower that deal because De Ligt is clearly willing to come to us more than Paris, more than Barcelona for example, or whatever else’.”