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

Erik ten Hag has spoken publicly for the first time about Manchester United’s interest in Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt, who could become their third signing of the summer.

Transfer window: Manchester United make early moves this summer

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

United completed the signing of Leny Yoro from Lille for an initial fee of £52m on Thursday but remain interested in signing another centre-back. Raphael Varane has left the club upon the expiry of his contract and United have sold Willy Kambwala to Villarreal and are also believed to be open to selling Victor Lindelof.

De Ligt played under Ten Hag at Ajax before joining Bayern Munich and, if he moves to Old Trafford, he will follow in the footsteps of Ajax team-mates Lisandro Martinez, Antony and André Onana. The 24-year-old defender is keen to leave Bayern and join United’s increasingly Dutch squad, which now includes striker Joshua Zirkzee (£36m) and coaches Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle ten Rouwelaar.

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

“We still have to wait and see if De Ligt will come,” Ten Hag told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dadblad. “But the good thing is that during my holidays I was out of the process for three or four weeks. During that period it was really the club, the newly created scouting and recruitment department, that brought these players in.

“The fact that there are also Dutch players among them is a coincidence. Most of them are players who have been signed by our organisation. But of course I support them, let’s be clear, and even so, we made the choice together.”

In June, Mirror Football reported that one of the conditions of keeping Ten Hag as manager was that he would be less involved in transfers, partly due to the poor return on the £85m spent on Antony. Sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada have all been brought in to turn things around, but Ten Hag appears to be continuing to exert his influence.