Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 06:55• Jordi Tomasowa • Last update: 07:04

Matthijs de Ligt has opted for a transfer to Bayern Munich, partly on the advice of national coach Louis van Gaal. The 22-year-old centre-back signed a contract until mid-2027 in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, after he passed the medical examination without any problems. Bayern will reportedly pay eighty million euros, including bonuses, to Juventus, where De Ligt’s contract ran until the summer of 2024. Steven Bergwijn also previously sought advice from Van Gaal prior to his transfer to Ajax.

“I talked to Louis van Gaal about my future in the summer,” says De Ligt, opposite BILD. “Of course I asked him about this club. He only had good words for Bayern Munich, praised the philosophy and said to me: ‘If you go to Bayern, you will love it’.” Van Gaal was head coach of . from 2009 to 2011. of the Rekordmeister. The seventy-year-old coach won, among other things, a national title with Bayern and also reached the Champions League final in 2010 with the German top club.

For De Ligt, the presence of coach Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern was also a decisive factor in his transfer. “He is a trainer who has proven that young players can develop further with him. I still see myself as a young player who wants to improve,” says the 38-time international of the Dutch. “Bayern’s attacking style certainly fits. with me and was actually one of the reasons for my decision to move to Munich.”

De Ligt is Bayern’s fourth signing for the upcoming season. Trainer Nagelsmann added Sadio Mané, Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui to his selection at an earlier stage. The Germans have spent approximately 130 million euros on new players this summer, including De Ligt. The Juventus defender is Bayern’s most expensive purchase due to the transfer fee of eighty million euros, although he has to share that status with Lucas Hernandez. Eighty million euros was also deposited for the versatile Frenchman in 2019.