De Ligt | €45+5m agreement reached pending medical | Signed!

[Ichabod Ferguson]

It's not even about de Ligt per se, but this is the exact sort of deal I really hoped we'd move on from under INEOS. It's rarely a good sign when big clubs are willing to shift players, and even more rarely a good sign that you get a free run at them. If the rest of the footballing world was convinced de Ligt was a 60m player worth 250+ a week there'd be significant competition for him.

If we can do a deal at closer to €40m then that's one thing, but I really would like INEOS to set their stall out and target young up and coming players rather than continue hoovering up off casts from other big clubs.

 

[DanH]

I honestly think he'd be our best defender. It's just up to the medical team to conduct thorough checks.

 

[Rojofiam]

Hope Bayern stick to their valuation & we move on.

This isn't a valuation we won't be willing to match IMO. €50m is just 42m GBP. I think we're very much prepared to pay that, but it seems like lowballing our first offer is our new strategy this summer.

 

[moses]

Stay on topic folks.

Express your hate for the club, the manager and other players in the appropriate threads.

 

[Tiber]

He hasn't exactly set the world alight at either of his last 2 clubs. But hey he used to play in the Dutch league so Ten Hag will love him

 

[Zed 101]

If he can stay fit for more than a few games at a time he will be an upgrade

 

[AlexUTD]

Hes actually quite quick to be honest, and also good at defending 1 vs 1 against wide players when fullbacks push up high

If that is the case then i hold my hands up and say i was wrong.

If he stays fit then i am fully behind this.

 

[Stobzilla]

Cool, so around 45mil Euros is the compromise leaving it at around £38mil which is a good price.

 

[Rojofiam]

Not having a position in the managers starting eleven when fit is what made him a truly awful signing.

I don't like talking about starting elevens. If injuries, fitness and fatigue weren't the thing, the starting XI still shouldn't be the same every time. A lot should depend on the opposition as well. It's much better to look at the whole squad. Mount will get plenty of game time if he stays fit. He also offers things other players in the squad don't.

EDIT: The two players he doesn't get in over are Mainoo or Fernandes. You're not a bad player or a bad signing just because you cannot get in over those two. They're two exceptional players.

 

[Cassidy]

He hasn't exactly set the world alight at either of his last 2 clubs. But hey he used to play in the Dutch league so Ten Hag will love him

Not true to be honest, injuries this season but the previous he was recognised as one of the best CBs in the bundesliga and in the team of the season

 

[VP89]

Now Athletic are on it.

 

[Leftback99]

Always feels ominous when people talk about someone having good resale value. The same was being said in reply to skepticism about Antony and Mounts signings. Also the likes of AWB and Sancho in the past. How are their resale values doing?




Not having a position in the managers starting eleven when fit is what made him a truly awful signing.

We heard Varane was a bargain as well but with sky high wages he cost us a fortune for what must have been barely 50% of games.

 

[Pronewbie]

Mount has done well when he was able to play. Injuries in season 1 don't make him a bad signing.

For a team fighting for a spot in the top half, maybe. Mount in his first few games was a more athletic VDB before his injury woes and had a similar number of touches in 65 - 70mins vs his substitute Eriksen in those games.. This was the same Mount I was delighted to see in the Chelsea starting XI that I regularly betted against. At least back then he'd have more of the ball despite achieving nothing much with it. He's been average at best whenever he returned from injury but I will not judge him on those performances because of the stop-start nature of his season.

He most certainly doesn't deserve to start ahead of Kobbie or Bruno in midfield, and was outshone by McTominay. There's a strong case of playing Eriksen ahead of him if we bring in someone energetic like Ugarte. We should have kept Fred despite his weaknesses, and the right signing from Chelsea was Kovacic.

I hope for the club's sake that he does much better this coming season.

Edit: Just to bring this reply back to topic, I want to be clear that the De Ligt signing has a much better chance of turning out ok for us, but is nonetheless a big risk IMHO.

 

[Cassidy]

We heard Varane was a bargain as well but with sky high wages he cost us a fortune for what must have been barely 50% of games.

Good thing he isn't injury prone like Varane then, lets see what type of wages we offer him. Will be a good test for the new structure

 

[Insanity]

You guys want us to move on from everyone, first Branthwaite now De Ligt we have to sign someone

I'll happily take Brainthwaite in front of this guy.

This guy works me if it's a Sancho like deal where we give them a pittance as a loan fee and pay his wages.

 

[Cassidy]

I'll happily take Brainthwaite in front of this guy.

This guy works me if it's a Sancho like deal where we give them a pittance as a loan fee and pay his wages.

 

[moses]

He hasn't exactly set the world alight at either of his last 2 clubs. But hey he used to play in the Dutch league so Ten Hag will love him

Do you watch many Bayern games?

“He embodies the Bayern mentality. He’s a guarantee at the back, solid as a rock. You have the feeling that nobody gets past him. That’s exactly the mentality that we wanted. Matthijs is a great transfer,” said team president Herbert Hainer.

 

[hellhunter]

Do you watch many Bayern games?

“He embodies the Bayern mentality. He’s a guarantee at the back, solid as a rock. You have the feeling that nobody gets past him. That’s exactly the mentality that we wanted. Matthijs is a great transfer,” said team president Herbert Hainer.

To be fair, the Bayern president will hardly tell the press they signed a dud for a record fee

 

[Theo88]

The Caf's view of MDL, went from 'gawd we need to get' to, 'shite utter useless' and now slowly moving back to 'might be the right choice'

You gotta love our hopes and dreams and player views, a few years of Maguire and co have driven people insane.
30-40m is a good bargain but i'm wondering how much he is on - and if that is the case i'd hope we dont offer something like a 5 year contract ever again to any player other than academy products and young players making peanuts (ahem Rashford's latest contract).

 

[hellhunter]

I have no strong opinion on signing De Ligt, somewhere around €45m would be a solid fee, but I'm really sceptical (after all those lessons learned) when Bayern wants to sell a player

 

[Insanity]

This isn't a valuation we won't be willing to match IMO. €50m is just 42m GBP. I think we're very much prepared to pay that, but it seems like lowballing our first offer is our new strategy this summer.

Fee is just one part. You have to look at the overall package when you are signing a player to get the actual cost.

A 42m few + 250/wk (assuming) for 5 years makes it a pretty steep deal. That's 13m/annum in wages. 65m over a 5 year contract. That's over a 100m in costs for a player with plenty of red flags.

 

[moses]

To be fair, the Bayern president will hardly tell the press they signed a dud for a record fee

Possibly. He had the option to say feck all. The glowing nature of it would be a bit transparent if he was awful. And the fans agree. I put more stock in that than user6875 on Redcafe.

 

[Insanity]

 

[Adnan]

Mount has done well when he was able to play. Injuries in season 1 don't make him a bad signing.

I think Mount will come good as long as he can steer clear of injuries. The likes of Mount, Mainoo, Garnacho, Amad and Hojlund are players who have good potential and are players Murtough developed or signed via the scouts he had put in place. And the only thing that group of players was missing was a strong CB pairing along with more physicality and athleticism. I think they were on the right track last year, and not being able to sign Todibo and Amadou Onana created a vacuum that couldn't be filled due to certain players not wanting to leave. I think the key here is to significantly strengthen at CB and the deeper midfield positions where we have a good technical base backed up with a high level of physicality.

For me Mount is our best player at receiving the ball with his back to goal in the second phase and he can cover ground quickly.

 

[Tiber]

Do you watch many Bayern games?

“He embodies the Bayern mentality. He’s a guarantee at the back, solid as a rock. You have the feeling that nobody gets past him. That’s exactly the mentality that we wanted. Matthijs is a great transfer,” said team president Herbert Hainer.

No I'm not a Bayern expert, though not sure this seems the most objective source? Unless you reckon they are going to sell him to us for a big profit?

 

[Cassidy]

No I'm not a Bayern expert, though not sure this seems the most objective source? Unless you reckon they are going to sell him to us for a big profit?

Is the bundesliga team of the season a good source? Also if you don't watch Bayern much why comment on him not being good there?

 

[Tom Van Persie]

 

[moses]

No I'm not a Bayern expert, though not sure this seems the most objective source? Unless you reckon they are going to sell him to us for a big profit?

Bayern fans all rate him. And he was in the Bundesliga team of the season the season before last.

Just a bit if advice, I wouldn't get all of my football info from the hysterical denizens of redcafe.net

 

[Leftback99]

Good thing he isn't injury prone like Varane then, lets see what type of wages we offer him. Will be a good test for the new structure

Heard Varane wasn't too.

Hope you're right but we need to be confident that any CB signings are as robust as possible after recent years.

 

[Cassidy]

Heard Varane wasn't too.

Hope you're right but we need to be confident that any CB signings are as robust as possible after recent years.

Varane was obviously injury prone and past his prime too

 

[Zlatans Knee]

I seriously think that if we get this guy and can keep Licha fit then we will see a totally different Manchester United this season. Get this one over the line and I will be quietly optimistic about our chances of competing with the other teams at the top.

 

[Leftback99]

Varane was obviously injury prone and past his prime too

I thought so but got told otherwise at the time.

 

[VP89]

Heard Varane wasn't too.

Hope you're right but we need to be confident that any CB signings are as robust as possible after recent years.

What?

 

[Devil_forever]

Bayern fans all rate him. And he was in the Bundesliga team of the season the season before last.

Just a bit if advice, I wouldn't get all of my football info from the hysterical denizens of redcafe.net

Rashford was banging in goals for fun the season before last, Mount was chelsea's player of the season and chelsea fans all rated him. It doesn't mean anything. This guy is being kept out of the dutch team by De Vrij. He will be on silly unmovable wages too. No chance he agrees to take much of a pay cut when he has a contract with Bayern for another 3 years.

 

[Berbaclass]

~£38 Million would be a great price.

 

[moses]

Rashford was banging in goals for fun the season before last, Mount was chelsea's player of the season and chelsea fans all rated him. It doesn't mean anything. This guy is being kept out of the dutch team by De Vrij. He will be on silly unmovable wages too. No chance he agrees to take much of a pay cut when he has a contract with Bayern for another 3 years.

I wouldn't write any of them off, just yet.

 

[Onerealunited]

Onana
Dalot - De Ligt - Martinez - Shaw

Not bad if we want to build from the back, all 5 are good to play it out... With the injury records their backups become of high importance though

 

[groovyalbert]

Onana
Dalot - De Ligt - Martinez - Shaw

Not bad if we want to build from the back, all 5 are good to play it out... With the injury records their backups become of high importance though

If that unit stays fit it's a huge upgrade on what we largely saw last year.

 

[Ali Dia]

This is on! What a signing he will be. Poise, leadership, physicality, aggression, experience, coming into his prime years in the position. Monster player. Will also hopefully allow us to comfortably develop a young CB or two behind him. Yes please. I also think behind Ugarte himself and Martinez (or Branthwaite) is a really good trio. Future captain material. This new recruitment setup knows what it’s at. These are the kinds of players we need more of

 

[Tiber]

Bayern fans all rate him. And he was in the Bundesliga team of the season the season before last.

Just a bit if advice, I wouldn't get all of my football info from the hysterical denizens of redcafe.net

I certainly remember when he was the next big thing. But I do have some specticism for a player who would be on his 4th team by age 24. Teams like Juve and Bayern tend to be a bit reluctant to let key players slip away, particularly for less than they paid for him

Hope if he comes here he is a smashing success, but im not convinced that at this point he is viewed in quite the same way he was at Ajax despite some of the protests in this thread