I'm an optimist. When I heard the news Ajax agreed terms, I got excited. I acknowledge that it might be a play to get Barca to drive up their price, but if Barca pay De Ligt what he wants, they will have to offload players to afford him, and no one wants to leave.
This is actually a win win. If we sign him, that's a win. If Barca fork up the money, they must lose players which is a win for us as a European foe. And some of those players might be someone we want.
As far as why De Ligt might choose United, look no further than Pogba. He could be the "posterboy" of a rebuild. And he would have to beat out the likes of Smalling, Jones, and Baily, rather than Pique, Lenglet, and Umtiti.
This is actually a win win. If we sign him, that's a win. If Barca fork up the money, they must lose players which is a win for us as a European foe. And some of those players might be someone we want.
As far as why De Ligt might choose United, look no further than Pogba. He could be the "posterboy" of a rebuild. And he would have to beat out the likes of Smalling, Jones, and Baily, rather than Pique, Lenglet, and Umtiti.