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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Ed Aarons

Manchester United set to sign De Ligt and Mazraoui, Wan-Bissaka heads to West Ham

Matthijs de Ligt
Matthijs de Ligt played for Erik ten Hag during his days with Ajax. Photograph: Pedro Porru/SPP/Shutterstock

Manchester United are expected to complete the signings of the defenders Matthijs de Ligt and ­Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich for a combined fee of more than £50m, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka set to join West Ham. The deals for De Ligt and Mazraoui – who played under Erik ten Hag when he was at Ajax – were agreed over the weekend.

Both players were pictured on their way to United’s Carrington training ground on Monday.

It is understood they are expected to complete medicals before signing five-year deals, with United hoping to have them available for the opening game of the season against Fulham on Friday after a foot injury ruled out the new arrival Leny Yoro for three months. That would require both to be registered by midday on Thursday.

The price for De Ligt – who fell out of favour at Bayern under Thomas Tuchel last season, having joined from Juventus in 2022 for £60m – is understood to be €45m (£38.6m) plus €5m in add-ons, while United will pay £13m for Mazraoui in a deal that could be worth up to £17m.

The Morocco international is capable ofcan playing in both full-back positions and his arrival will allow Aaron Wan-­Bissaka to complete his move to West Ham for about £15m. The 26-year-old joined United from Crystal Palace in 2019 for an initial £45m and has one year left on his contract after United triggered an extension this year.

United switched their attention to De Ligt after their attempts to sign Jarrad Branthwaite were thwarted by Everton’s £70m valuation of the England defender. The Netherlands defender and Mazraoui were part of the Ajax team who won the Eredivisie under Ten Hag in 2019 and also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

The signings would mean United have spent more than £230m on five of Ten Hag’s former Ajax players

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