Moving to Manchester, United made Matthijs de Ligt the most expensive back in history for a second time.
Premier League team Manchester United paid €45 million for the Dutch player, with a possible €5 million add-on.
Even though De Ligt is only 24, he was already the most expensive defender ever in terms of all his trade fees, and now he has broken that record.
He has changed teams for €197.5 million throughout his career.
They bought De Ligt from Ajax for €85.5 million in 2019. In 2022, they sold him to Bayern Munich for €67 million.
De Ligt is still the most expensive defender in football history, thanks to his move to Manchester United. If Manchester United had to pay an extra €5 million for the Dutch player, his value would have exceeded €200 million.
Official: Matthijs de Ligt has joined Manchester United.
Neymar, Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ousmane Dembele are the only four players in history with trade fees of more than €200 million.
The highest total player nationality fees and transfer fees in history
Neymar Brazil €400m
Italy's Romelu Lukaku paid €343
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal €247 million
Ousmane Dembele, France €220 million
Dutch Matthijs de Ligt €197.5 million
De Ligt is one of two center-backs who have joined Manchester United this summer. The other is Lille star player Leny Yoro.
Raphael Varane left for free to join Como, and Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire's prospects at Old Trafford are not certain.
For months, United had been trying to sign Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite. But his high price tag made it hard, so United turned their attention to De Ligt and Yoro instead.
Erik ten Hag, who is in charge of Manchester United, really likes De Ligt because they both worked together at Ajax.
Before signing with Juventus in the summer of 2019, De Ligt became one of the most promising young center-backs in Europe then.
But he never lived up to his full promise at Juventus, so in 2022, they sold him to Bayern Munich.
De Ligt signed a five-year deal with Bayern that ends in 2027, but he also had some problems at Bayern.
Due to his tendency to make awkward mistakes and not move quickly when making a turn, people have even called him the "Dutch Harry Maguire."
0 Comments