Manchester United have signed 18-year-old centre-back Lenny · Yoro, but Bayern Munich's Netherlands centre-back De Ligt is still likely to join, and the player himself is still willing to move. Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag insists he is not asking for the 24-year-old former Ajax captain and that the transfer list was drawn up by the club during his holiday.

De Ligt played 70 games under Ten Hag and was named captain. The United boss admitted he wanted to bring in De Ligt two years ago, but lost to Bayern, but this time it was not he who took the initiative to buy the Netherlands international.

'It remains to be seen whether Mattheis [De Ligt] will join Manchester United, I know Mattheis very well and I won't deny it." Ten Hag said: "I wanted to sign him two years ago, but by then he had already reached an agreement with Bayern. Believe it or not, I didn't name him this time."

Ten Hag says this because he has been criticised for liking to sign former players he has worked with. If De Ligt makes a move to Manchester United, it will be the fifth such transfer. Lisandro· Martinez, Antony and ·Andre Onana have all worked with Ten Hag at Ajax, while Sofjan · Amrabat, who were on loan from Fiorentina last season, are among their players at Utrecht.

In addition, three other United signings – Tyrell · Malacia, Joshua· Zirkze and former loan signings · Watter Weghorst – are all Netherlands players, with a third of Ten Hag's 18 new signings having played in the Eredivisie.

Ten Hag has vehemently denied that he has any connections or brought in other players represented by his agentin order to receive rumors of kickbacks。 "I support these decisions, and we make choices together." "I know it creates a certain image, I don't understand what it is, but in the end our standards are above all else, and it's all about whether the players are good, whether they're suitable or not, whether they meet the age and ability of our recruits," he said.

The Red Devils boss added: "I understand that when the team doesn't win, the media will slander you and your image will be terrible, but nationality doesn't matter, whether he's from Netherlands, Sweden or France, it's the same colour as a player's hair. It doesn't matter what the outside world thinks, we make decisions together and make the best choices together. I firmly believe that United are moving in the right direction."

Recently, Everton's takeover failed again, so there is some thought they may have to sell 21-year-old England centre-back Jarrad · Branthwaite at a reduced price. But on the contrary, "Toffee" is still determined not to reduce the price. The club may now need to sell again after completing the £50 million sale of defender Amadou · Onana, but it could be centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin, not Branswaite.

Manchester United's two offers of £43 million and £50 million were rejected by Everton, and the British media said that the psychological price ceiling of the Red Devils was 55 million pounds. Everton's insistence on £70 million has not changed.

Branswaite and United have previously agreed personal terms that would cost him up to £160,000 a week if he joins. However, this is only a verbal agreement and it will not be possible to surface if Everton do not release the man because it is a violation of the rules. Everton have reportedly informed United that further contact with Branswaite is not welcome. According to the United Kingdom's Daily Mirror, Everton intend to boost Branswaite's pay by convincing him to stay with an incentive bonus clause related to his results, and his weekly salary is currently only £40,000.