Despite Manchester United’s plan to sign Matthijs de Ligt, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman has opted for the defender to remain a bench regular at Euro 2024
Matthijs de Ligt has yet to feature for the Netherlands at Euro 2024 – with Ronald Koeman seemingly not the biggest fan of the Manchester United transfer target.
The Bayern Munich defender is locked in talks over a move to Man United in what would spell a reunion with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag.
The 24-year-old has been a staple in European football since his teens but the Dutchman’s career has stalled despite spells at Juventus and the German giants.
The valuation placed on De Ligt by Bayern is £42.4million, plus add-ons – a sizeable reduction on the £68m they forked out to purchase him in 2022.
Despite being a key target in Ten Hag’s attempt to bolster his defensive reinforcements, Koeman seemingly doesn’t share the same reverence towards the defender as his compatriot, considering he’s yet to feature for the Netherlands at Euro 2024 this summer.
The defensive partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Stefan de Vrij has served the team well who’ll take on Turkey in the quarter-finals of the tournament after defeating Romania 3-0 on Tuesday. Even substitute cameos have continued to evade De Ligt with Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven preferred to see out games.
Despite his wilting influence at the international level, Ten Hag’s chase of his former player is an obvious one when you consider the success he had whilst at Ajax where he was handed the captain’s armband by the Red Devils boss at the age of 18.
During his time at the Dutch giants, Ten Hag said: “I don’t know if De Ligt has shown 60 – 80 per cent of his potential. But we are talking about one of the best defenders in Europe. And I have no doubt that he will soon be number one in his position”.
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