Journalist: Man United have agreed deal with Ajax for 19-year-old
Reporter Juliens Laurens claims Man United have a deal in place with Ajax to sign Matthijs de Ligt
Manchester United have reached an agreement with Ajax to sign highly-rated defender Matthijs de Ligt, according to respected journalist Julien Laurens.
The Netherlands international has been attracting interest from a host of Europe’s top clubs over the past couple of months.
De Ligt was a key member of Ajax’s team that reached the Champions League semi-finals before losing to Tottenham Hotspur.
The 19-year-old produced impressive performances in victories at Juventus and Real Madrid to emerge with real credit from the competition.
Unsurprisingly, De Ligt has been linked with European heavyweights such as FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United this summer.
Juventus were reported to have won the race to sign De Ligt but the deal has been held up.
And reporter Laurens has now claimed that Manchester United have an agreement in place with Ajax to sign De Ligt – but so have PSG.
“I think there’s a chance where Ajax will lose a little bit of patience and say ‘hang on a minute, PSG agreed, Manchester United agreed. In that case we stop talking to you and De Ligt can choose between the clubs that we actually have an agreement in place’,” Laurens told ESPN FC, as quoted by the Daily Express.
“It’s not really in Ajax’s interest to waste a bit more time about De Ligt.
“They want the money in, they want for him to go, he was great for them but now he’s decided that he wants to go.
“They want that deal to happen, they won’t want to have to go back and forth in negotiations with Juventus or whoever else.
“So they might well say ‘do you know what, we already have an agreement in place with some clubs, we’re going to only focus on them clubs and De Ligt would have to choose between those clubs because you’re wasting our time’.”
Manchester United have already made two signings in the summer transfer window to bolster their squad ahead of the new season.
The Red Devils brought in Swansea City midfielder Daniel James in a £15m deal last month before Manchester United spent £50m on Crystal Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Manchester United finished in sixth place in the Premier League table last term and without a trophy.
