Agreed Man Utd transfer leaves Ten Hag smiling as petition to stop ‘horrible decision’ hits huge new heights

The Manchester United hierarchy will be enjoying the fallout at Bayern Munich regarding the agreement to sign Matthijs de Ligt, as a petition not to sell him has now reached huge numbers.

United have been forced to look to the transfer market for a quality new centre-back following the departure of Raphael Varane. Losing a world-class asset means it will be important for the Red Devils to recruit a similar calibre of player.

On their list of late have been a number of centre-backs who fit the bill.

Alongside Jarrad Branthwaite, who they lodged a lowly offer for and were turned down, Bayern Munich man De Ligt is one of United’s favourites.

That owes to the fact he is a previous disciple of manager Erik ten Hag, from their time together at Ajax, and has fallen out of favour with his current employers.

The Dutchman played just 22 Bundesliga games for them last season, and as such has been eager to find a way out.

That’s why he is said to have already agreed to link up with Ten Hag again at United.

But there has been huge fallout at Bayern as the chance of De Ligt leaving the club ramps up.

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60,000 fans protest De Ligt decision

Indeed, Bayern fans started a petition to stop the club entertaining the idea of the sale.

It reads: “We all want Matthijs de Ligt to stay at FC Bayern Munich! He has proven that he’s a world-class defender, probably the best in our squad.

“There is a reason why he was elected as our best player in the 2022/23 season. Furthermore he is only 24 years old and has a bright future ahead, which he is going to use to fulfil his huge potential.

“Despite his young age, Mattha is already very mature and has a great mentality which will definitely make him a leading figure in defence and probably a competitor for captaincy in some years.

“His ability to speak English, German and Dutch fluently would help him a lot for that. With 19 years he already brought Ajax Amsterdam to the UCL semi finals as captain.

“Selling Matthijs de Ligt would be an absolutely horrible decision and we would definitely regret it. That’s why we use our voice to call attention that we will NOT make this mistake!”

Not long after it was set up, the petition had reached 13,000 signatures.

Five days on, that number has more than tripled, as it’s now at 60,000. United’s hierarchy will be grinning at the fact they have caused such a commotion at the club, especially if they do manage to land De Ligt, who Bayern will seemingly allow to leave for around £50million.

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