Manchester United hopeful of completing Matthijs de Ligt transfer as deal moves closer

Manchester United are hopeful of signing Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt.

Bayern are prepared to sell De Ligt, 24, after only two years and he is valued at around £42million.

United want to sign two centre backs and have already had a bid of £35m rising to £43m rejected for Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite. Everton value Branthwaite at between £70m-£80m and United are operating on a budget of tens of millions, excluding funds from sales.

United have released Raphael Varane and want to sell fellow centre half Victor Lindelof as he is out of contract next year.

De Ligt played under United manager Erik ten Hag at Ajax before he joined Juventus in a £68m deal in 2019. The defender remains a big fan of his former manager and after Ten Hag had been confirmed as Manchester United's new manager, De Ligt tipped him to be a success, saying: "He is someone who loves his job and he loves to work. He wants to do everything to make his team play better.

"He's really into the details. This makes him a really good trainer who improves players. He has a lot of qualities to succeed and we will have to see how he goes.”

READ MORE: Why Garnacho will not play at the Olympics

READ MORE: United might still have a role for their forgotten man in best XI

There are currently five former Ajax players in the United squad and four arrived after Ten Hag's appointment in May 2022.

United scouted De Ligt when he was a teenager at Ajax and their then head of youth recruitment, Derek Langley, later revealed the club vetoed a move for the Dutchman.

De Ligt is in the Netherlands squad at the European Championship but has not played in any of their four matches in Germany. Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Inter Milan stopper Stefan de Vrij