FC Bayern surprised the Bundesliga world with the transfer of Stuttgart's Hiroki Ito. Almost unnoticed by the otherwise well-informed transfer reporters, the Munich team arranged the deal with the Japanese international and made it official yesterday, Thursday. Only shortly before, information had leaked out that this deal was imminent or would go ahead. Unusual in these times, because there were no rumors beforehand that the German record champions were working intensively on this transfer. Ito makes sense for Bayern, but what does the transfer of the new signing mean for the Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt?
Hiroki Ito played a strong season in the VfB Stuttgart defense and played a key role in the Swabians' success. The fact that the Japanese player knows the Bundesliga and doesn't need much time to get used to it makes the deal even more sensible for Munich, in addition to the sporting qualities of the 19-time national player. He has now signed a contract with Bayern until 2028. The start of the joint employment relationship could also mean the end of the relationship with an existing central defender, namely Matthijs de Ligt.
At a press conference of the Dutch national team, de Ligt answered the question whether it was true that he had been told by FCB that he could leave: “Now is not the time for me to think about it.” For the 24-year-old, other things are currently more important. “We are now playing in the European Championship and that is very important for me, very important for the national team – that's why I can't say what I think about this situation now.”
If you read between the lines, you miss a clear commitment to FC Bayern. But in the end, this could actually be due to the club's lack of commitment to the player. After the European Championships, the de Ligt issue should become really exciting. “Now my focus is on the European Championships and then we'll see what happens,” said de Ligt.
After SkyAccording to information, Manchester United is interested in de Ligt. Coach Erik ten Hag knows the player from their time together at Ajax Amsterdam and is still a “big fan” of the player. As transfer expert Florian Plettenberg reported in the transfer update, de Ligt could “leave the club if something really big comes along”. De Ligt wants to hold talks after the European Championship and the associated return to Munich.
With the expensive Ito package, FC Bayern has made a clear statement. After all, they will not invest 30 million plus sum X in a player who only weakens the competition and who is not expected to be in the starting eleven in the short to medium term. Ito is supposed to make Bayern better. In addition to de Ligt and the new Japanese signing, the Munich central defense currently consists of Dayot Upamecano, Eric Dier and Min-jae Kim, who was also a multi-million dollar transfer from last season. Even if there is no concrete discussion about it at the moment, there are currently many indications that a separation between de Ligt and Bayern is imminent.
