Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag breaks his silence on Matthijs de Ligt transfer

Erik ten Hag has revealed that Manchester United are in talks to sign Matthijs de Ligt, but insists he is not solely responsible for the idea.

United completed the signing of Leny Yoro from Lille for an initial fee of £52m on Thursday but are still keen to sign another centre-back. Raphael Varane left the club when his contract expired and United sold Willy Kambwala to Villarreal and are understood to be open to selling Victor Lindelof as well.

De Ligt played under Ten Hag at Ajax before joining Bayern Munich and should he move to Old Trafford he would follow in the footsteps of fellow Ajax graduates Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Andre Onana. The 24-year-old defender is keen to leave Bayern and join an increasingly Dutch squad at United, which now includes £36m striker Joshua Zirkzee and coaches Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle skin Rouwelaar.

From the outside it would appear that Ten Hag agrees, but the United boss insists that every new arrival – including De Ligt – is on board with the new structure put in place by owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

“We have to wait and see if De Ligt comes,” Ten Hag told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dadblad. “But the good thing is that during my vacation I was out of the process for three or four weeks. During that time, it was the club itself, the newly established scouting and recruiting department, that brought in these players.

“The fact that there are Dutch players among them is actually a coincidence. First of all, these were players that were brought in by our organization. But of course I support them, let’s be clear – and we’re still making the choice together.”

Mirror Football reported in June that one of the stipulations of keeping Ten Hag as manager was that he would be less involved in transfers, partly because of the poor return on the £85m investment in Antony. Sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada have been hired to change the tact, but it seems the Ten Hag is still asserting its influence.

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“I know Matthijs well, of course, I’m not going to deny that,” he said. “Two years ago I already wanted to take him, but he was already very far away with Bayern Munich. But believe it or not: he didn’t specifically come from my head in this process.”

Ten Hag is aware of the perception of United’s transfer process. “I know it creates a certain image, of course I understand how that works,” he added. “But in the end, the criterion that matters above all else is: is the player good or not good? It fits the character, the age and of course the quality we’re looking for.”

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