De Ligt to Man Utd – inside the deal: Ten Hag’s texts, perfect profile… and lifelong love

The final paperwork came through later than expected on the evening of August 12, but there would be no final hitches.

Matthijs de Ligt, regarded as one of Europe’s best young centre-backs for almost a decade, would become a Manchester United player courtesy of an opportunistic transfer, which first arose as a possibility during this summer’s European Championship, and which was ultimately completed for €45million (£38.4m, $50m), plus a potential €5m more in add-ons.

For De Ligt, who turned 25 that same day, this had been a long time coming.

As a child, he paid special attention to Sir Alex Ferguson’s United squads, and their centre-back partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. His interest had been piqued by another hero — countryman Jaap Stam — and though the Dutchman had left United in summer 2001, before De Ligt was old enough to watch him play for them, he was well aware of the connection between the club and a player whose game he has tried to emulate.

But it seemed unlikely, once again, that this summer would be the time for him to head to Old Trafford. His club Bayern Munich struggled last season, with De Ligt suffering knee issues, but the player felt as if he had credit at the German side. His first season with them, 2022-23, had been a success, with De Ligt being voted Bayern’s player of the month for both March and April as they overhauled Borussia Dortmund to win the Bundesliga for an 11th year in a row.

Yann Sommer has Matthijs de Ligt to thank for sparing his blushes…

The Dutchman’s goal-line clearance prevents Vitinha from levelling the tie.

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De Ligt had to fight for his place last season amid competition from summer arrival Kim Min-jae, Dayot Upamecano, and (post-January) Eric Dier, but still started 16 of the 22 Bundesliga games he was fit for. With head coach Thomas Tuchel having left in the summer, there was an expectation De Ligt would retain his place in 2024-25 under Vincent Kompany. A petition asking the club to keep him, signed by over 70,000 Bayern fans, was testament to his standing — though this was not necessarily the sole viewpoint.

Indeed, it became clear during the Euros that was not necessarily the club’s position — with some in the building, while recognising his leadership, questioning his ability to play out of defence using his weaker foot. However, according to one source close to De Ligt, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, his camp’s perception was that Bayern “were playing a game” during conversations about his prospects and wanted him to go.

Unsure of the landscape, De Ligt met Kompany to ask why he felt as if he had been put up for sale. According to De Ligt’s camp, the player was told by Kompany that he was not responsible for the decision and that he was his “No 1 defender”. Their perception was that a choice had been made, at board level, to facilitate his departure.

When contacted by The Athletic, a Bayern spokesperson denied Kompany had said words to that effect.

The Euros had already been a tough period for De Ligt. Despite feeling as if he had returned to peak fitness after the knee injury mentioned above, he did not play a single minute at the tournament as the Dutch got to the semi-finals, with Stefan de Vrij favoured alongside Virgil van Dijk in central defence. After starting 21 games together for the Netherlands previously, Van Dijk and De Ligt have been paired just four times in the past two seasons.

At the Euros, coach Ronald Koeman had a choice between the pair — and opted for Van Dijk, who has been the team’s captain since 2018. De Ligt was effectively relegated to being the Liverpool captain’s backup, with 32-year-old De Vrij, of Italian champions Inter Milan, starting instead — much to his surprise.

Against this backdrop, the notion of reuniting in Manchester with a manager who had always given De Ligt his absolute trust when they worked together at Ajax in their homeland was a major pull.

“(Erik ten Hag was) the most important coach for my development,” De Ligt told The Athletic last February when talking about the United manager. “Even at 18, he saw me as someone who could lead a team, who could lead by example, who could be a good captain.”

By giving him the armband in March 2018, at the age of 18 years and six months, Ten Hag made De Ligt the youngest-ever Ajax captain. At the end of the subsequent season, he led the club to within 30 seconds of the Champions League final, only for Tottenham Hotspur to snatch an improbable victory on the since-scrapped away goals rule and progress to face Liverpool instead.

Though he would depart that summer to Italy’s Juventus for €75million, before subsequently joining Bayern in July 2022, De Ligt and Ten Hag, who left the Amsterdam club for United after the 2021-22 season, remained in touch. The pair texted regularly and when United became aware of De Ligt’s situation at Bayern, they were able to act quickly.

Centre-back had been a priority for the club this summer, with 2018 World Cup winner Raphael Varane departing at the end of his contract and last season’s injury crisis demonstrating the importance of depth.

The right-sided role was seen as particularly important, despite the early pursuit of Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, who typically plays on the left but is versatile enough to cover either side. There was always an acknowledgement from club executives that they could recruit two players if the right opportunities arose.

As reported by The Athletic last Friday, United were aware of a potential metatarsal (bones in his foot) issue with highly-talented French centre-back Leny Yoro, but deemed the 18-year-old’s talent to be worth the risk, especially given strong rival interest from Real Madrid and their long-term plans for him. While they are also happy with the profile of Harry Maguire — a player who can be the dominant aerial defender in a duo with Lisandro Martinez, while also having ball-playing ability — De Ligt was seen as a potential upgrade.

Though it was initially Ten Hag who wanted the signing — having floated the idea in January — De Ligt’s surprise availability and the relatively modest fee meant United’s recruitment team came to agree with their head coach. De Ligt fitted their model for players at the younger end of the spectrum, and his character also appealed. The club had reports on him, going back several years, already in their system.

There was also a desire to build trust with Ten Hag after the search for potential managerial replacements at the end of last season. Ten Hag has been forming a good relationship with new sporting director Dan Ashworth over the past few weeks, with their offices next to each other at the training ground.

But in the end, De Ligt was not pushed by Ten Hag, rather the player has arrived via a joint decision by all, with the deal making sense from performance and financial points of view.

Bayern dropped the price for De Ligt from an original €55million, and because of that still-sizeable outlay by United were also open to negotiating on a fee for his club colleague Noussair Mazraoui. Agreeing a deal for Morocco international full-back Mazraoui was not contingent on De Ligt, but the players’ shared representation meant it was possible to complete both transfers at the same time, and United feel they have effectively got two quality players for the cost of one.

De Ligt, left, and Mazraoui have swapped Munich for Manchester this month (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

However, there was competing interest from other clubs when De Ligt’s situation at Bayern became clear. His representatives were contacted by French champions Paris Saint-Germain and Spanish giants Barcelona, but both were made aware that United were in pole position. De Ligt’s desire to reunite with Ten Hag and fondness for the English club were the determining factors — with Spain’s European champions Real Madrid understood to be the only other team who could have forced him into a difficult decision.

“Matthijs is a student of the game,” says Wim Jonk, the former Netherlands international who was head of the academy at Ajax during De Ligt’s development. “He was always very interested in tactics but also in football history — players from the past, or the background of the former top players that were working at Ajax.

“I am sure he would have studied his options. When a club comes to him, he’s not the kind of guy who just listens to his agent — he’ll dive into the club and their history himself, he’ll dive into the people already working and playing there: ‘What’s their background?’. ‘Will they be a good match with me?’. And that’s very telling.”

The expectation, if Ten Hag’s squad are all at peak fitness, is for Martinez to start as the left centre-back with De Ligt on the right, especially once Yoro returns to fitness and adapts to the Premier League.

Ten Hag brought De Ligt straight into the squad for Friday’s Premier League season-opener against Fulham and he came on as an 81st-minute substitute, despite not playing at all for Bayern in pre-season. Physical readiness has rarely been an issue for him — this is a player who made his Ajax debut a month after turning 17.

“Physically, he was mature early,” Ruben Jongkind, former head of talent development at the Ajax academy, tells The Athletic. “Sometimes, that’s a burden because then people catch up with you, and you don’t have the technical skills.

“But because he was physically so good, and he had the skills, it was easy to move him up. Not just one year, but two years minimum. Until his final season in the academy, he didn’t play as a central defender, but as a midfielder. We all knew he would never be a midfielder — but we did this on purpose to make him a better player with 360-degree awareness. All of that made him ready for first-team football, and even European finals, at a very, very young age.”

As well as meeting the required level both physically and technically, De Ligt’s mentality and leadership were precocious from an early age.

One key figure in his psychological development was former Ajax and Netherlands centre-back Barry Hulshoff, who worked closely with De Ligt in his teenage years. They remained close until Hulshoff’s death in 2020.

“You could see him step up at decisive moments in matches,” says Jasper van Leeuwen, the head of talent recruitment at Ajax’s academy during this period. “One of the best youth games I ever saw was the Dutch Cup final between Ajax and Feyenoord at around under-16 level. We’d received two red cards, and were behind — and two players stepped up when everyone was exhausted. One was Noa Lang, who is now at PSV (Eindhoven, the current Dutch champions), and the other was Matthijs.

“The other thing is off-field — at one point, during redevelopment at the training ground, the scouting department was moved to the school building (used by the academy kids). Matthijs would frequently come to us and ask what we were working on, share his opinions, and talk about football in general. He was very curious and open-minded.”

With United having lost a senior player this summer in Varane, who as well as that 2018 World Cup with France won four Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles at previous club Real Madrid, De Ligt’s leadership abilities are an important part of the package.

These traits could have brought him to Manchester before.

In 2019, United’s neighbours City were keen on him, with manager Pep Guardiola a particular fan.

City have subsequently downplayed the extent of their interest but The Athletic has been told by sources familiar with the situation that a major sticking point was De Ligt’s representation. The centre-back’s agent was Mino Raiola, and he had fallen out with Guardiola, effectively blocking any chance of the transfer happening. That gave Juventus the opportunity to swoop in and secure a €75m deal.

Now finally in Manchester — albeit dressed in red, not sky blue — the newly married De Ligt has already found a permanent home where he and wife Annekee will be based, helped by the club. One source close to De Ligt described his reception at United as “very professional and attentive”.

This has been a common theme among their arrivals this summer — with United’s player-care team arranging for a Muslim community leader to show Mazrouai around the local mosques, for example. As Ten Hag was keen to have both players immediately available for first-team matches, making them feel comfortable quickly in the north-west is important.

“He has fantastic potential,” said Ten Hag, discussing De Ligt’s signing. “But Matthijs has almost 375 games for Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich under his belt. That is incredible. Now he is turning into his best years. He has great skills as a football player but also in his character, his personality. I am very pleased to have him here.”

When De Ligt makes his first United start, perhaps away against Brighton on Saturday, it will fulfil his inner child — but the club have bought experience as well as that youth.

(Top photo: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)