8 months ago
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Matthijs de Ligt has rubbished suggestions he is unhappy at Bayern Munich and says a summer transfer is not on the agenda despite recent links with a move to Manchester United.
The centre-back, who swapped Turin for Bavaria in 2022 in a £65million switch from Juventus, only featured sparingly at the start of this season under Thomas Tuchel and appeared to have been shunted down the pecking order by the arrival of Kim Min-jae.
By the time Germany’s mid-season break came around, De Ligt had started just two Bundesliga matches with a knee injury curtailing his involvement.
That prompted links with a move to Old Trafford, with old Ajax boss Erik ten Hag reportedly keen on a reunion, and the speculation only increased when Bayern decided to sign Eric Dier from Tottenham in the January window.
But, since the turn of the year, De Ligt has started nine of Bayern’s last 11 league matches, with one of those absences being the result of a suspension.
Tuchel has been favouring a centre-back partnership of De Ligt and Dier in recent weeks, and the Dutchman gave a particularly impressive performance against Lazio in the Champions League last 16, even registering a spectacular assist.
Having regained his starting spot, United target De Ligt has no desire to leave the Allianz Arena, while he says even when he was not playing there was little truth in the speculation that he could leave.
Speaking to Voetbal International about the rumours, De Ligt replied: ‘I think that mainly has to do with the expectations from outside.
‘When I don’t play, then a link is immediately made saying that I would not be happy and would want to leave.
‘Of course there have also been matches that I would have liked to play, but I really have no reason to complain.
‘I’m still having a great time at Bayern Munich and have been playing again lately. I never let rumours get to my head or drive me crazy because I know what the reality is.’
On regaining his place in the starting XI, he continued: ‘I’ve started 10 of the past 12 matches. And I feel like I’m getting fitter and better, which is a very good feeling.
‘I started the season with an injury and that is of course always very annoying. I needed time to come back and then I also suffered a knee injury.
‘As a result, I missed a lot of matches and at a club like Bayern Munich you have to deal with a lot of competition with international players.’
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