The Real Reason Why Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, speaks out on Matthijs de Ligt’s transfer.

For the first time, Erik ten Hag has discussed Manchester United’s interest in Matthijs de Ligt, a defender for Bayern Munich who might be their third summer acquisition.

Although Erik ten Hag has disclosed that Manchester United is in talks to sign Matthijs de Ligt, he maintains that he is not the only one who came up with the concept.

Leny Yoro, who was acquired by United from Lille on Thursday for a reported £52 million, is a centre back that they still want to sign. After his contract expired, Raphael Varane left the team. Willy Kambwala was sold by United to Villarreal, and it’s rumoured that Victor Lindelof may also be up for sale.

Before joining Bayern Munich, De Ligt was coached by Ten Hag at Ajax. If he moves to Old Trafford, he will be joining fellow Ajax alumni Lisandro Martinez, Antony, and Andre Onana. With trainers Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake, and Jelle ten Rouwelaar, as well as £36 million attacker Joshua Zirkzee, the 24-year-old defender is eager to leave Bayern and join United’s increasingly Dutch group.

Although it appears like Ten Hag is in charge from the outside, the United manager is certain that every new player, including De Ligt, must adhere to the new structure that owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has put in place.

“We need to wait and see if De Ligt will arrive,” Ten Hag stated to the Algemeen Dadblad, a Dutch newspaper. The good news is that I was able to step away from the process for three or four weeks on my vacation. It was the club, with its recently formed scouting and recruitment department, that actually brought these players in during that time.

It is merely a coincidence that there are Dutch players among them as well. These were mostly players that our organisation brought in. To be clear, I do support them, but we still come to a decision together.

A condition of Ten Hag’s continued employment as manager, according to a June Mirror Football article, was that he would be less active in transactions. This was partially because of the low return on the £85 million that was invested in Antony. Even though chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth, and technical director Jason Wilcox were brought in to take a different approach, Ten Hag still seems to be making an impact.

He declared, “I’m not going to deny that I know Matthijs well.” “I had wanted him for two years already, but he was already very far along with Bayern Munich.” But, surprisingly, he didn’t originate directly from my thoughts during this process.

Ten Hag is conscious of the opinions held over United’s transfer procedure. “I understand how that works, of course, and I know that it creates a certain image,” he continued. In the end, though, the most important factor is whether or not the player is skilled. Does he meet our requirements in terms of character, age, and, of course, the quality we seek?