Liverpool could be in with a chance of securing a man they’ve long had interest in with Bayern Munich potentially looking to offload Matthijs de Ligt.
Florian Plettenberg revealed on X that De Ligt could be looking to move on due to their salary issues, despite him impressing towards the back end of the season.
As well potentially letting him leave due to their financial issues, Bayern is said to be looking to make changes to their defensive unit after a poor season, being linked with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah and Chelsea’s Levi Colwill – while already having De Ligt, Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae at the position. De Ligt had been the third-choice center back at times this past season behind the aforementioned duo, and could now be on his way out with Liverpool in need of addressing the position.
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When De Ligt left Ajax in 2019, he was told by his coach and Netherlands legend Ronald de Boer to consider Liverpool when making his next move. De Boer highlighted a potential partnership with countryman Virgil van Dijk as a reason why a move to Anfield should be high on his priorities.
He told told talkSPORT in April 2019: “For me, a 19-year-old boy, captain of Ajax, he’s the guy who is next to [Virgil] van Dijk in the [Dutch] national team. For De Ligt, it’s up to him what he wants to do. He has to look for a team that plays attacking football and has time on the ball. For me he can go to Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, these teams I would advise him to go there.
Liverpool had reportedly been interested in De Ligt when he left Ajax in 2019, before he chose to goto Juventus, and were again linked when he left Italy to instead join Bayern Munich.
And while De Ligt has impressed in his two seasons in Germany, he could once again be moved. However, Liverpool may be put off by Bayern’s asking price. De Ligt was sold for $95 million in 2019, before the German side acquired him for $85 million.
Should Liverpool look to make a move for him, they can expect to be paying at least $80 million, still just 24 years old with his best years ahead of him despite playing plenty of games at his age.
Liverpool.com says: De Ligt could be the perfect long-term replacement for Virgil van Dijk, but it does feel a bit soon to be making that move for a player of his price tag. Van Dijk has just put together one of his best seasons in a Liverpool jersey, doing so at 32 years old.
While Liverpool should be considering a long-term replacement, it feels unlikely that they’ll do so by paying that much for a player like De Ligt, who could be a back-up for his first two seasons behind Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. If Liverpool can agree to a deal at a considerably cheaper price, as the two clubs have previously done so with Thiago and Sadio Mane, then a move could still happen. However, it feels more likely that Liverpool will spend around $30-40 million on a defender.