One of Manchester United's mooted summer transfers could be under threat after an incredible amount of fans signed a petition to try and prevent it from happening.
After Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS decided to persist with Erik ten Hag under a new structure, United are looking to strengthen their squad for next season.
The club's first priorities appear to be replacements for both Anthony Martial and Raphael Varane, with Dutch internationals Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt two primary targets.
United appear to be making progress in signing both players, who are currently with the Netherlands ahead of a Euro 2024 semi final with England on Wednesday.
Advert
Fabrizio Romano claims Ten Hag has been in contact with the pair.
He worked with De Ligt at Ajax a few years back and sees him as the perfect partner for Lisandro Martinez, who also played under Ten Hag in Amsterdam.
However, there transfer has been met with remarkable opposition from Bayern Munich supporters.
Advert
In fact, a petition demanding that he stays put has garnered nearly 60,000 signatures online.
The petition, 'titled 'Keep de Ligt!' was set up on Change.Org and included a detailed description of what it would be "an absolutely horrible decision" for him to be offloaded.
It read: "We all want Matthijs de Ligt to stay at FC Bayern Munich! He has proven that he‘s a world class defender, probably the best in our squad. There is a reason why he was elected as our best player in the 2022/23 season. "Furthermore he is only 24 years old and has a bright future ahead, which he is going to use to fulfill his huge potential. Despite his young age, Mattha is already very mature and has a great mentality which will definitely make him a leading figure in defense and probably a competitor for captaincy in some years. His ability to speak English, German and Dutch fluently would help him a lot for that. "With 19 years he already brought Ajax Amsterdam to the UCL semi finals as captain.
"Selling Matthijs de Ligt would be an absolutely horrible decision and we would definitely regret it. That‘s why we use our voice to call attention that we will NOT make this mistake!".
Advert
Still only 24, De Ligt joined Bayern from Juventus in 2022 and has made 73 appearances across two seasons.
He is still contracted until 2027 but United are said to be looking to do a deal for £43 million.
Topics: Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Matthijs De Ligt
Josh Lawless