Manchester United Football Club have no choice but to sign a centre-half this summer, after the somewhat surprising exit of Raphael Varane. The Frenchman left on a free transfer and he must be replaced with genuine quality.

The name most linked with filling the void is Jarrad Branthwaite, though with the Englishman coming with a rather large price tag, the Red Devils are now looking at other options – including Matthijs de Ligt.

The usually reliable David Ornstein has provided the latest on that front via The Athletic. He states that United are now ‘seriously considering’ a move to sign the top-class defender this summer.

De Ligt is viewed as an ‘increasingly viable’ candidate for United, as they up their efforts to strengthen their back line.

It is stressed that the clubs are not yet in talks, though the Dutch defender has emerged as a ‘concrete target’.

United did try to sign De Ligt when he left Ajax for Juventus in 2019, then again when he made the move to Bayern in 2022. The Red Devils could be hoping that third time is the charm.

De Ligt is a player who has been around for ages, purely due to the fact he broke into the Ajax first-team at such a young age. His best years are potentially still ahead of him and United would be daft to not consider the 24-year-old as an option.

He has all the tools in his locker to become one of the best centre-halves in the game and on paper, he strikes me as the ideal partner for Lisandro Martinez.