Revealed: Bayern Munich ‘sold Matthijs De Ligt to Man United for £38.5m AGAINST the wishes of manager Vincent Kompany, who regarded the Dutch star as his No.1 defender’

Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany “didn’t want to sell” Matthijs De Ligt to Manchester United this summer and even told the Dutchman he was his “number one defender”.

The centre-back joined the Old Trafford club last week for £38.5million, with a further £5million in bonuses, and was on the bench for the opening game of the Premier League season against Fulham.

The 25-year-old former Ajax captain previously worked with United manager Erik ten Hag at the Dutch club before leaving for Juventus in 2019. The manager was keen to work with the defender for a while.

He arrived alongside team-mate Noussair Mazraoui in a deal that seemed to come out of nowhere and was completed very quickly.

However, it has now emerged that his former boss Kompany actually wanted to keep the defender and that the decision to sell him was made by the club’s management, The Athletic reports.

Matthijs De Ligt leaves for Man United for £38.5m, with a further £5m in add-ons

Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany ‘didn’t want’ to sell De Ligt this summer

The former Ajax captain previously worked with manager Erik ten Hag (right) at the Dutch club

When head coach Thomas Tuchel left in the summer, many thought De Ligt would stay at Bayern under the new Belgian manager, with over 70,000 fans signing a petition demanding he remain with the team.

A source close to the defender revealed that the board were ‘playing a game’ during discussions over his future and that they actually wanted the Dutch star to leave, mainly due to his poor distribution with his weaker foot.

Although Kompany rated the central defender highly, it soon seemed that a decision had been taken at ‘board level’ to fire De Ligt.

The Dutchman believed he had a good reputation at Bayern, having been voted player of the month in March and April in a title-winning season. He said knee injuries were the main reason he played less often after that.

It didn’t help that his national team ostracized him from the European Championship. De Ligt didn’t play a single minute in the tournament, as Stefan de Vrij formed a partnership with Virgil van Dijk that took the team all the way to the semi-finals.

The 26-year-old attacker, who had less playing time last summer, longed for a reunion with his old coach Ten Hag, who had appointed him Ajax’s youngest captain at the age of 18.

The feeling was mutual: the Dutch manager was desperate for a new central defender after the departure of Raphael Varane and a series of injuries.

When it became clear that De Ligt was suddenly available and at a reasonable price, the club management quickly agreed to Ten Hag.

Bayern initially asked for £46 million (€55 million) for the defender, but dropped the price after United also showed interest in Moroccan international Mazraoui.

While European powers Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona also asked for De Ligt, it was the Dutchman’s long-standing love for the Red Devils that put the Old Trafford club in pole position.

The Dutchman thought he had credit in the bank at Bayern

When head coach Thomas Tuchel left in the summer, many thought De Ligt would stay

He even based much of his game on former United defender Jaap Stam

The centre-back spent much of his early years studying the defensive combinations of Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams, including those of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

He even based much of his game on former United defender Jaap Stam, even though his compatriot left Old Trafford in 2001 when De Ligt was just two.

If he follows in the footsteps of one of those three Manchester giants, he will more than justify his transfer fee and only make Kompany angrier.