€50m reported fee 

©Imago/Content stadium

One of the most protacted transfer sagas of the summer window seems to be finally reaching it’s conclusion, as Manchester United look to complete the signing of Bayern Munich defender Matthijs De Ligt. According to multiple reports, the Netherlands international will make the move to the Premier League for a an initial €45 million, with a further €5m in add ons to follow. Such figures will make the central defender the most valuable sale in Bayern’s history, with the previous record held by Lucas Hernández’s €45m move to Paris Saint-Germain eventually being overtaken by the aformentioned add ons. The deal will also coincide with the Old Trafford club buying fellow Bayern team mate Noussair Mazraoui for a further €20m. 

Both signings will likely come as good news for fans of the English club, who are well aware of their team’s need for new defenders. Erik Ten Hag’s injury-ravaged side spent much of the previous campaign relying on 36-year-old Jonny Evans in defence, while injury-prone stars like Raphaël Varane and Lisandro Martínez spent much of the season out of action. Varane has since departed the club, alongside fellow central defender Willy Kambwala’s move to Villarreal for €10m. Following the high-profile signing of Leny Yoro, De Ligt will join the Man Utd squad as their sixth central defender, but there’s every chance that Harry Maguire or Victor Lindelöf will depart the club before the end of the window. Mazraoui, who primarily plays as a right-back, is expected to replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka, once he completes a reported move to West Ham. 

Why Bayern are willing to sell De Ligt

Following the arrival of new head coach Vincent Kompany, Bayern have seemingly gone through their squad and decided that they now have a surplus of central defenders. With Bayer Leverkusen star Jonathan Tah expected to join the club at some point and Stuttgart defender Hiroki Ito having already joined the Munich side, Kompany’s squad could end up having no less than seven senior central defenders on the books. And, as it would seem, De Ligt has been earmarked as one of the defenders that will be allowed to leave the club for a certain price. But why the Dutch international specifically? 

The most obvious reason is simply due to the fact that clubs want to sign De Ligt. In comparison to Dayot Upamecano, whose market value has steadily fallen in line with inconsistent performances since he joined the club for €42.5m in 2021, and Min-jae Kim, who struggled in his first season in the Bundesliga last time round, De Ligt is one of the few central defenders that came out of the last campaign with a handful of solid performances. And with a market value of €65m, De Ligt would almost certainly attract far more interest and a higher transfer fee than any attempt by Bayern to sell Upamecano or Kim in the summer window. 

There’s also a clear financial advantage to selling De Ligt too. The Dutch talent is reportedly Bayern’s best-paid defender, with the 24-year-old talent apparently earning up to €4m more per year than Kim and even more than Upamecano. So selling him to a Premier League side like Man Utd, who would be more than happy to take on such a wage, would allow Bayern to free up a large chunk of their wage bill to focus on other areas of their squad. Similarly, with the signing of Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise and more to come, Bayern clearly need to sell players before they can start spending more in the transfer market. Despite being one of the richest clubs in the world, the Munich giants typically keep their spending in the window to a net spend of around €50m, which means if they’re set to fork out more than €100m this summer, a star leaving for a fee of around €50m or more makes perfect sense.