Bayern Munich: Matthijs de Ligt wants a long stay in Bavaria
Bayern Munich has heavily invested in center-back position during the last four summer transfer windows. The German Champions were forced to look for another central defender this year after Niklas Sule refused to sign a new deal. Sule eventually left Bayern as a free agent to join Borussia Dortmund.
After missing out on Andreas Christensen, Bayern moved for Matthijs de Ligt in the summer. The negotiations with Juventus were swiftly completed in July, and the Dutch defender joined his teammates in the USA for the pre-season tour. It is a significant investment (€70 million) for one of the most promising young defenders in Europe.
The Dutch international scored against DC United in the first pre-season friendly after coming on at half-time. He is yet to get his first competitive start for Die Roten as Julian Nagelsmann has decided to stick with the center-back partnership of Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Hernandez. Matthijs de Ligt is slowly integrated into the lineup, so the first start for him is just around the corner.
The former Ajax defender is thrilled to clinch a move to Bavaria. While talking to De Telegraaf this week, de Ligt admitted that moving to Bayern was the right step at this point in his career. The Dutch international is eager to stay in Bavaria for a long time as he sees parallels between Ajax and Bayern.
"“I definitely want to stay at FC Bayern for a long time, – otherwise I wouldn’t have signed for five years. At this moment of my career, it’s just the perfect step.”"
Matthijs de Ligt also insisted that he has been enjoying the training methods. He is not worried about a slow start to the season for him. The Dutch defender is expecting to get a considerable amount of game time in the coming months due to the cramped scheduling of games this season.
The former Juventus defender will help Bayern to become an even more dangerous team on the ball. He has an expansive passing range in his locker, which will help Die Roten in building attacks from the back. The Dutch international is a quality defender due to his physical frame and positional awareness.
Apart from his playing attributes, de Ligt can eventually become the leader at the back. The Dutch defender was leading Ajax in the Champions League three years ago. After working with experienced defenders at Juventus, de Ligt is likely to be an even better defender and leader.
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In the long run, de Ligt will be a very wise investment for Bayern. They currently have a very good set of central defenders that are yet to enter the peak years of their careers. It will not be a big surprise if Bayern will not sign a new central defender in the near future, as they are now well stocked in this position.