Micah Richards disagrees with Manchester United legends over new £38,500,000 signing

1 month ago 1

Micah Richards believes Matthijs de Ligt can transform Manchester United’s team, dismissing the fears of Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes.

After months of speculation, United are finally set to sign De Ligt from Bayern Munich for an initial fee of €45million (£38.5m) with €5m (£4.2m) in add-ons.

Additionally, Noussair Mazraoui is swapping the Allianz Arena for Old Trafford for €20m (£17.1m), replacing Aaron Wan-Bissaka who is moving to West Ham.

The signing of De Ligt has been much debated given the centre-back’s struggles since leaving Ajax in 2019, with big money moves to Juventus and Bayern not working out.

A reunion with Erik ten Hag might revive the Dutch international’s form, but several United legends have been among those to express concern over the transfer.

Scholes described the 25-year-old as ‘second-rate’ while Ferdinand claimed he was ‘not the answer’ to United’s defensive woes.

But Richards believes De Ligt will aid the Red Devils this season and help implement Ten Hag’s style of play which he has often been unable to do since arriving in Manchester.

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the Manchester City icon said: ‘It looks like they’ve got De Ligt and Mazraoui through the door.

‘When we talk about Man United and the way they play, the structure of the team, sometimes they sit really deep because they’ve not got the pace.

‘If you get De Ligt in the team… I wouldn’t say he’s rapid but he’s not as slow as someone like Maguire on the turn and that’s no disrespect to Maguire.

‘So I think they can afford to be a bit more adventurous.’

Richards comments came while analysing United’s loss to City on penalties in the Community Shield last Saturday, after which he said that Ten Hag’s side looked promising going into the new season.

‘Now you’ve got players like Amad Diallo pushing for a start. [Alejandro] Garnacho comes off the bench and makes an impact,’ the former full-back added.

‘[Marcus] Rashford, although he should be taking his chances, is still getting chances. I thought Bruno Fernandes was excellent. Casemiro too in terms of his passing and movement.

‘They are playing a team [City] that love to play the ball and make you look stupid and that wasn’t the case, so there’s definitely positives to take from Man United’s performance.’

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