After careful consideration and repeated discussions, Manchester United's board of directors has finally decided to continue to believe in Ten Hag, and has extended his contract until June 2026. Last season, Ten Hag led Manchester United to an FA Cup triumph despite a poor Premier League record, which was the main reason Ten Hag was able to stay. Before Ten Hag's contract was confirmed, Manchester United finally negotiated a compensation agreement with Newcastle for sporting director Ashworth, who has become Manchester United's sporting director and is mainly responsible for Manchester United's transfers.
Ten Hag has also expressed his need to Ashworth after the contract extension, with strikers and centre-backs being the focus of Manchester United's recruitment, and Ten Hag wants United to bring in two of his Dutch compatriots, Bayern Munich centre-back De Ligt and Bologna striker Zirkze. De Ligt is currently worth 65 million euros, and Bayern's asking price for him is around 60 million euros; Zirkze is currently worth €50 million, but has a €40 million release clause. De Ligt and Zirkze are now playing at the European Championships with the Netherlands, who have reached the quarter-finals but neither has yet to make appearances.
Following Raphael Varane's departure, the players in United's squad who can now play at centre-back include Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Evans and Cambuvara, with Maguire's contract expiring in June 2025 and not being trusted by Ten Hag, who is likely to sell Harry Maguire in the summer window; Backed by Victor Lindelof's contract with less than one year left and not strong enough to be United's first-choice centre-back, United are also open to offers from other teams; The 36-year-old's contract with Manchester United has expired, but United are likely to extend his contract for another year; The 19-year-old Cambuvara is likely to get more chances this season. Therefore, there is only one central defender with the main quality in the Manchester United team, and it is imperative to bring in a central defender of the same quality.
Manchester United currently have two main candidates, namely Everton's 22-year-old England centre-back Branswaite and Bayern Munich's 24-year-old Dutch centre-back De Ligt. Branswaite was Everton's main centre-back last season, scoring three goals in 35 Premier League appearances for Everton last season, and was a major contributor to Everton's relegation success, currently valued at €42 million, with his contract expiring in June 2027. Manchester United have made a £43 million offer to Everton for Branswaite, but the offer has been rejected by Everton, who are asking for a whopping £70 million, with a huge gap between the two sides. It was in this context that United identified the first target for bringing in a centre-back as Bayern Munich's De Ligt.
De Ligt rose to fame at a young age, already playing at Ajax at the age of 18, winning the Eredivisie title, and transferred from Ajax to Juventus for 85.5 million euros in July 2019, but his performance at Juventus never met expectations, and he moved to Bayern Munich for 67 million euros in July 2022. However, under Nagelsmann and Tuchel, he has not returned to his original peak form at Ajax, and even gradually lost his main position in the team, and his current value has dropped to 65 million euros. In the Dutch national team, De Ligt has also lost his main position, and the head coach of the Dutch team Koeman would rather trust Inter's 32-year-old veteran De Vrij and not give De Ligt a chance, so Bayern hopes to sell De Ligt at a suitable price, which also gives Ten Hag and De Ligt the opportunity to reunite.
Ten Hag, who managed Ajax between December 2017 and June 2022, was the one who promoted the 18-year-old to become a regular in the team. Ten Hag is also keen on Manchester United to bring in the former favourite amid Bayern's interest in selling De Ligt, with Ashworth already giving the go-ahead for Manchester United to make an offer from Bayern. Manchester United have already made an offer of €50 million to Bayern Munich, while Bayern Munich's asking price is €60 million, and the gap between the two sides is not huge, and De Ligt is likely to become United's first signing in the summer window. Once De Ligt is successfully brought in, United will have more leverage to bargain with Everton for Branswaite.
The second player Ten Hag asked Ashworth to bring in, and who is also his compatriot, is Dutch centre-forward Zirkze, who excelled in Bologna last season. Zirkze is 193 cm tall and weighs 89 kg, born in May 2001, played for the youth team in The Hague and Feyenoord in succession, and joined Bayern Munich in August 2017, but did not get many opportunities at Bayern, and was loaned by Bayern to Parma and Anderlecht for training. In August 2022, Zirkze transferred from Bayern Munich to Bologna for 8.5 million euros.
Zirkze's first season at Bologna was a substitute for Arnautovic, making 21 appearances throughout the season, starting just six of them, contributing just two goals and two assists. But in the 2023-2024 season, with Arnautovic's departure to join Inter, Zirkze became Bologna's starting center forward, making 37 appearances for the team this season, contributing 12 goals and 6 assists, although the number of goals is not particularly large, but as a high school striker, his tactical price is greater, helping Bologna to finish 5th in Serie A last season.
With his outstanding performance in Bologna, Zirkze's value soared from 9 million euros in June 2023 to 50 million euros in June 2024, a full increase of 41 million euros in one year, and has become the sweetheart of the transfer market, attracting the attention of many European giants, among which Manchester United is the most sincere pursuer. Zirkze is worth €50 million, but he has a €40 million release fee in his contract with Bologna, and United can sign the €50 million young centre-forward for €40 million by triggering the release clause. However, Zirkze's agent is a strange commodity, asking for a commission of up to 15 million euros, which has also become the biggest obstacle for Manchester United to sign Zirkze, Ten Hag has communicated with Zirkezer many times, and is trying to persuade Zirkezer to join Manchester United, Manchester United may pay Zirkezer's agent a commission of about 12 million euros.
Ten Hag hopes United can sign De Ligt and Zirkze as soon as possible to give them more time to prepare for the new season. 60 million euros for De Ligt, 40 million euros for Zirkze, even if you don't count agent commissions and player signing fees, Manchester United paid a direct transfer fee of 100 million euros for the two Dutch players. After such a costly comeback, Manchester United are aiming to win the Premier League title in the new season.
Note: The picture comes from the Internet.