Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt should join either Barcelona over Manchester City this summer.
The Dutchman managed United between 2014 and 2016, winning the FA Cup final in his second season shortly before being sacked by the club, and it seems he doesn’t see Old Trafford as an ideal destination for one of the Netherlands’ most exciting young talents.
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De Ligt has had a terrific season for Ajax, and is already club captain at the age of just 19, leading the Amsterdam giants to glory in the Eredivisie and to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
United badly need a quality centre-back like that in their ranks after their worst-ever defensive performance in a Premier League season as they finished 6th in the table in 2018/19.
Still, if De Ligt listens to this former United boss, he’d be better off working under Pep Guardiola at City – a point that’s hard to argue with, in fairness!
“He could play at Barcelona, but he could play for Manchester City also, and in that case I would choose Pep Guardiola over Lionel Messi,” Van Gaal told Fox Sports, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
ESPN have previously suggested Barcelona were the favourites to land De Ligt, though a more recent report from the Telegraph still gives the Red Devils some hope.