Reports state that Erik ten Hag informed Matthijs de Ligt that he intended to play for Manchester United with Lisandro Martinez.
During the summer transfer window, United will be looking to add at least one new center back, and negotiations to sign De Ligt have already taken place between the club and Bayern.
After working with Ten Hag for just over a season at Ajax, it is believed that the 24-year-old is open to joining United and collaborating with him.
The Sunday Mirror claims that Ten Hag has already discussed a possible transfer to United with De Ligt and given him an update on his preparations for the forthcoming Premier League season.
The report claims that Ten Hag has informed De Ligt that he sees him as Martinez’s centre-back partner at the heart of United’s defence and plans to play a 4-3-3 formation.
Separately, the newspaper reports that Ten Hag’s plans put Harry Maguire further down the pecking order at United and the club would be open to selling the 31-year-old, who was signed in an £80 million deal from Leicester City in 2019.
United are now said to be ‘confident’ of reaching an agreement with Bayern over a fee for De Ligt, who is currently with the Netherlands squad preparing for their Euro 2024 semi final against England on Wednesday evening.
Bayern are holding out for a €50m (£42m) fee for De Ligt, who started just 16 games in the Bundesliga last season.
When asked about his future at Bayern last month, De Ligt said: ‘I’ve already said this is not the time for me to think about it.
“It is very important for me and the national team that we are playing at the Euros right now.” I’m unable to comment on this situation at this time because of this reason.
However, I am delighted to report that I have completed my second season at Bayern. I’m concentrating on the Euros for the time being, but we’ll see.
“I don’t know if De Ligt has shown 60-80 percent of his potential,” Ten Hag commented in reference to De Ligt during their time together at Ajax in 2019.
“However, we are discussing one of Europe’s top defenders, and I am confident that he will take the top spot in this position very soon.”