German record Champions Bayern Munich has finally announced the signing of Dutch international Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus. The 22-year-old centre back has signed a five year contract with the Bavarians and is expected to become a fan favourite at the Allianz Arena. He will be a very important player in the coming years and therefore Bayern went out there and broke the bank on him as they expect him to turn out to be one of the best defenders of this generation.
The entire deal was wrapped up by Bayern Munich for 67 million euros which will be paying over four years along with another 10 million euros which is supposed to be distributed in add ons with the main transfer fee. “Matthijs de Ligt was a top target for us. With signings like this, the big aims that we have are achievable. The future face of our team is increasingly taking shape,” said Bayern president Herbert Heiner.
This has now become the second largest transfer in Bayern’s history following the 80 million move that they made for Lucas Hernandez in 2019. The Frenchman, despite his injury problems has been a gem of a defender for the club and provides a lot of stability at the back.
Bayern Munich will for sure use the money that they received from Robert Lewandowski’s sales to FC Barcelona which is supposed to be around 45 million euros. While the Bavarians are not done yet as they look to sign a couple of more players, they will for sure let a few of their squad players leave to create funds. Someone like Omar Richards is eyeing a move in the Premier League and is talking with Crystal Palace where rumours also suggest that Tanguy Kouassi may also leave the club following the arrival of De Ligt as his chances of game time with the first team increases rapidly.
“This transfer is an important building block in the overall concept that we’re gradually putting into place. De Ligt should become a mainstay at FC Bayern” added Hainer.
Bayern have been busy in this transfer window having signed players like Sadio Mane from Liverpool, Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui as they look to invest heavily on their future for the next few years.
De Ligt was excited after putting pen to paper as he shared his feelings, he said, “I felt the genuine appreciation from the sporting management, the coach and the board right from the start, which convinced me. On top of that, FC Bayern is a brilliantly run club with big aims. I’m very glad that I’m now becoming part of the FC Bayern story.”
It will be interesting to see how his career turns out at Bayern after a pretty average stint at Juventus. Hopefully working under someone like Julian Nagelsmann will help him get back to his best which we saw during his time at Ajax.
