Matthijs de Ligt's Journey at Manchester United: Challenges and Opportunities
Matthijs de Ligt arrived at Old Trafford in 2024 as a statement signing and a reunion. Manchester United paid close to £60m to prise him and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich, handing Erik ten Hag back the defensive leader he once built his Ajax side around. On paper, it was a perfect fit. On grass, the story has been more complicated.
The 26-year-old has quickly become a central figure in United’s first team, his presence and pedigree hard to ignore. Yet every stride forward has come with a glance over the shoulder at his fitness. His body has too often argued with his ambitions.
Thrown straight into the fire
There was no gentle introduction. De Ligt didn’t play a single minute of United’s 2024 summer tour, largely because the deal was completed so late ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League season. As the squad travelled and tuned up, he waited.
Then came Fulham.
Days after signing, the former Bayern and Juventus defender was dropped straight into the starting XI, asked to anchor the defence before he had even settled into the dressing room. It was a bold call, very much in keeping with Ten Hag’s trust in a player he knows inside out. United wanted a leader at the back. They weren’t prepared to wait.
A complete summer at last
The rhythm he missed in 2024 finally arrived a year later. Under new boss Ruben Amorim, De Ligt enjoyed his first full pre-season in United colours ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, and it showed.
That 2025 tour was his best in a United shirt. He started three of the club’s five matches, logging 261 minutes and, crucially, building continuity. No late arrivals, no rushed debuts. Just a defender working through the gears, side by side with a manager shaping a new era.
For a club that had invested heavily to secure him, it felt like the proper beginning.
Back trouble at the worst time
Then the familiar pattern returned. Just when De Ligt looked set to roll that momentum into another season, his back intervened.
This summer’s tour has passed him by. Not a single minute played in 2026, not a single chance to sharpen timing or rebuild on-pitch relationships. Instead, the Netherlands international has been on an individual rehabilitation programme, working away from the main group, trying to solve a problem that has already cost him dearly.
It was serious enough to keep him out of this summer’s World Cup, a brutal blow for a player who should be in his prime years on the international stage.
He has at least travelled with the squad to the Republic of Ireland for Wednesday’s friendly, a small but significant step. United face Leeds United in Dublin, with AC Milan to come in Poland as the final stop before the new Premier League season. The fixtures are there. The question is whether De Ligt will be.
A pivotal few days
Right now, his pre-season record at United tells a jagged story. No tour minutes in 2024 due to the timing of his transfer. A full, encouraging programme in 2025 under Amorim. Then nothing again in 2026 so far, with his back dictating the terms.
United would love to see him on the pitch, even briefly, before competitive football returns. A handful of minutes against Leeds or Milan would not transform his fitness overnight, but it would change the mood. It would turn a summer of rehab into a platform rather than a warning sign.
For a club that rebuilt part of its defence around him and for a manager who knows exactly how high his ceiling is, the next week is not just about friendlies in Dublin and Poland. It is about whether Matthijs de Ligt walks into the new season as a cornerstone of the side, or as a lingering doubt at the heart of United’s plans.
