It was a tough struggle, but now sporting director Eberl and sporting director Freund can report the first major departures of the transfer summer. Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui are leaving FC Bayern for Manchester United.
Finally, there is some space in the bloated squad of FC Bayern – and fresh money in the club’s coffers: Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui are moving from FC Bayern Munich to Manchester United. After weeks of efforts, sporting director Christoph Freund and sporting director Max Eberl have been able to sell the two candidates.
Both clubs, FC Bayern and Manchester United, confirmed the double transfer shortly after each other on Tuesday evening. As expected, neither club gave any information about the transfer fee. De Ligt signed a contract until 2029, Mazraoui a contract until 2028 with an option to extend it by one year.
70 million in the total package for De Ligt and Mazraoui
The total package of the deal is estimated to be worth up to 70 million euros. United will pay a fixed transfer fee of 45 million euros for de Ligt and around 15 million for Mazraoui. In both cases, another five million euros in bonus payments will follow fairly quickly.
Planned transfers are canceled
A lot of money for Bayern, who would actually like to reinvest this newly acquired capital in fresh legs. But Eberl and Freund’s two biggest transfer targets, Jonathan Tah from champions Bayer Leverkusen and Désiré Doué from Stade Rennes, currently seem to be a long way off again.
While offensive talent Doué would probably prefer to move to Paris Saint-Germain, the FCB officials have now backed out of Tah’s offer. They believe their team is well positioned defensively.
In the run-up to the transfer, there was widespread discontent among Bayern fans over the personnel issue of de Ligt. More than 71,000 people took part in an online petition demanding that the 25-year-old stay. De Ligt played 30 competitive games (two goals) under former coach Thomas Tuchel last season, while Mazraoui made 29 appearances.
Emotional farewell words from Matthijs de Ligt
About an hour before the official announcement, de Ligt said goodbye to the FC Bayern fans in an emotional statement. “I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your love and support,” de Ligt wrote on his Instagram channel in German and English. The farewell after two years was “a chaos of emotions” for him.
He will “always remember the love and support of the players, the entire extended team and, above all, the fans. The petition that so many of you have signed touches my heart!”
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Source: BR24Sport on the radio 12.08.2024 – 11:55 a.m.
