Man Utd will reportedly try to use their financial power to gain an advantage over Barcelona in the transfer battle for Matthijs de Ligt.
The Red Devils endured a bitterly disappointing campaign this past season, as they failed to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League and crashed out of the cup competitions to end up empty-handed.
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In turn, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a big job to do this summer to get them back moving in the right direction, and one area that must be looked at is their defence.
United conceded 54 goals in 38 league games, giving them the worst defensive record of the top nine sides in the standings.
With that in mind, they must fix that porous backline, and they will hope to do so by signing De Ligt from Ajax this summer, as per reports.
Sport note that the Red Devils are interested in the Dutch international along with Barcelona, with the Catalan giants seeing their chances of signing the 19-year-old gradually slipping away due to financial aspects of the deal.
While their main appeal is that De Ligt is perfectly suited to their style of play and could join current teammate Frenkie de Jong at the Nou Camp in forming the new long-term core of the squad, it’s Man Utd who hold the advantage from a financial perspective as they are prepared to offer him over €14m-a-year.
As per ESPN, it could cost either Barcelona or Man Utd around €80m to sign De Ligt this summer, and so any such transfer will not be cheap.
Given the influence he has had this season in Ajax’s domestic double and run to the Champions League semi-finals, coupled with his growing impact for the Netherlands, it could be argued that he’s worth the investment given his quality, leadership and all-round game.
However, time will tell whether it’s money or the sporting aspect that takes great importance for De Ligt, with a switch to Barcelona perhaps not being as lucrative but certainly giving him a better chance in the immediate future of winning major trophies.