Man Utd praised for brilliant Fergie-like signing, but team-mate’s £100m price tag labelled ‘ridiculous’

Matthijs de Ligt’s transfer to Manchester United is a move right out of the Sir Alex Ferguson playbook, while a second star is not worth £100million despite being ‘the real deal’, according to a former Old Trafford striker.

De Ligt received approaches from both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer but snubbed them in order to join Man Utd from Bayern Munich. On August 10, Sir Jim Ratcliffe agreed a deal with Bayern for the centre-back, and he officially joined the Red Devils three days later.

Man Utd paid Bayern an initial €45million (£38m) for De Ligt, while the deal could rise to €50m (£42.2m) through add-ons.

De Ligt joined Man Utd alongside full-back Noussair Mazraoui, who also moved to Old Trafford from Bayern.

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De Ligt and Mazraoui followed Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro to Man Utd this summer, with PSG midfielder Manuel Ugarte next up.

De Ligt has only made two appearances for Man Utd so far and is still getting used to life both in England and at the club. But it is likely the 25-year-old will become a regular in the starting eleven as he knows Erik ten Hag very well following their successful spell together at Ajax.

Ex-Man Utd star Dwight Yorke has now praised the reigning FA Cup champions for winning the race for De Ligt, while also namechecking his legendary former manager.

“Matthijs de Ligt is a signing that Sir Alex Ferguson would’ve made,” Yorke declared. “There has been a lot of hype around him in the past even though things didn’t work out at Juventus, but you can see that he just needs the right club to get the best out of him.

Man Utd latest: De Ligt praise and Garnacho verdict

“It didn’t work out at Bayern Munich as well so there are some alarm bells there, especially considering that Eric Dier got in ahead of him which is quite concerning.

“But he is young and he’s replacing Raphael Varane alongside Lisandro Martinez who is very good when he is fit, I can see why United have paid the money.

“He will have to hit the ground running in the Premier League and get his confidence up, if he loses his debut he wouldn’t have experienced anything like that before, the scrutiny he could get at United.”

De Ligt is now playing alongside young winger Alejandro Garnacho, who impressed last season and finished the campaign with 10 goals and five assists. Garnacho has already notched a goal and assist during the new season, too.

The Argentina star clearly has sky-high potential, though Yorke does not think he is worth as much as someone like Declan Rice.

“Alejandro Garnacho is a hugely valuable player for Manchester United but not £100m, that would be a ridiculous amount,” the pundit said.

Winger hailed as ‘the real deal’

“He’s had way more playing time I thought he might’ve been given at his age, I thought he would be an impact player and bring the game to life off the bench but Erik ten Hag has had his hands tied with injuries.

“Garnacho probably played more games than Ten Hag wanted so you could see him running out of steam a little bit towards the end of last season, but he would’ve learned from that and become stronger and fitter going into the new season.

“In my opinion he looks to be the real deal, he’s the one player that brings that threat every time you see him on the ball. He can also play on both sides as he showed during the community shield so he is versatile too.

“One thing that I love about him is that he brings that energy and the desire to try and push defenders back towards their goal, which as an attacker you want to see all the time.

“Without a doubt, Garnacho is crucial to United’s success this season.”

READ MORE – Matthijs de Ligt: What Ten Hag disciple can add for Man Utd and why Juventus, Bayern moves didn’t work out