Manchester United have stepped up their pursuit of Bayern Munich's £55million-rated defender Matthijs de Ligt.
United boss Erk ten Hag worked with De Ligt at Ajax and wants to be reunited with the 24-year-old Netherlands centre-back at Old Trafford. It is understood United are willing to offer De Ligt – who only made 16 Bundesliga starts for Bayern last season - a five-year deal to relaunch his career in the Premier League.
De Ligt has three years left on his current deal and has emerged as a target for United after Everton refused to lower their £70m asking price for England centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite.
United made an initial offer of £35m plus £8m in add-ons for Branthwaite, but Everton are refusing to compromise over their valuation of the 22-year-old.
That has led to United exploring other options in terms of defensive signings, with De Ligt having emerged as a cheaper – and potentially more attainable – target than Branthwaite. Ten Hag made De Ligt Ajax's youngest captain when took over in the summer of 2018, with the pair enjoying success as the Dutch club won the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup that season.
De Ligt joined Juventus then signed for Bayern for £68m in 2022, but knee issues made him a peripheral figure in the first half of the season, as they failed to win the Bundesliga in more than a decade.
United have reached agreement with Newcastle over compensation for their sporting director Dan Ashworth, who is free to start work at Old Trafford with immediate effect.
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Newcastle initially wanted £20m from United in compensation for Ashworth, but a compromise figure in the region of £10m is understood to have been agreed between the two clubs.
Ashworth will join new United CEO Omar Berrada – who begins work the week after next – and technical director Jason Wilcox as the three new key figures in United's football executive team.
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