Matthijs de Ligt’s £68m move to Bayern Munich has been confirmed by the club.
With the Bavarians selling Niklas Sule and David Alaba in the last year, their defensive stocks had become depleted – but the Dutchman’s arrival from Juventus goes some way to addressing that issue.
De Ligt has long been considered one of Europe’s most promising young centre-backs, but at 22 years old and after three seasons in Serie A, he hasn’t quite kicked on in the manner some had expected he would following his big-money move to Turin in 2019.
Now however he has a new stage on which to impress under Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann.
De Ligt said of the reasons for his move: “First of all I really felt the love and appreciation from the board and the trainer [Nagelsmann].
“That’s for me really important.
“Second of all I think Bayern Munich is an amazing club, it’s one of the best-run clubs in the world and I’m really proud to be part of this group.”
De Ligt becomes Bayern’s fourth signing of the close season, having already brought in Sadio Mane, Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui – the latter pair from de Ligt’s former club Ajax.
The deal taking de Ligt to Germany will see Bayern pay an initial £59.5m plus a further £8.5m in add-ons. He has signed a five-year deal at the club.
Bayern begin their Bundesliga campaign on August 5 when they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt.
They will be looking to secure the German title for an eleventh consecutive year.
