‘I wanted to sign him’
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has confirmed that he wants the Red Devils to sign Bayern Munich centre-back Matthijs de Ligt this summer.
There have been reports of strong interest from the Red Devils in the Netherlands international with claims he wants to join the Premier League club.
One report even claimed that Man Utd have agreed ÂŁ170k-a-week terms with De Ligt and that the two clubs now need to agree on a fee.
But there have been other claims that Man Utd are not currently willing to pay Bayern Munichâs âŹ50m asking price this summer after landing young French centre-back Leny Yoro from Lille.
And Ten Hag has now confirmed that he is backing the Red Devilsâ pursuit of De Ligt, who the Man Utd boss has worked with in the past at previous club Ajax.
âIt remains to be seen whether De Ligt will come,â Ten Hag told AD Sportwereld.
âI know Matthijs well and I will not deny that. I wanted to sign him two years ago but at that time he was already very far along to join Bayern Munich but believe it or not, his name did not come from me in the process [at United].â
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Ten Hag has revealed that their list of targets was decided without him while he was on holiday but that he supports their selection as âjointly arrive at the best possible selectionâ.
âBut of course, I support these decisions, let that be clear,â Ten Hag added. âWe still make these choices together.
âI know it creates a certain image, of course I understand how that works, but eventually, our criterion will prevail above everything else â is the player good or not? Is he the right character? Does he fit the age and quality bracket we are looking for?
âI understand when you do not win, the media maligns you and there is a bad image, but it [nationality] is irrelevant, whether he is from the Netherlands, Sweden, or France. It is just like the colour of hair the player has. It does not matter what the outside world thinks.
âWe make decisions together and we jointly arrive at the best possible selection.
âI firmly believe we are moving in the right direction.â
