MANCHESTER UNITED are close to sealing a £51MILLION defensive double deal for Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.
And Erik ten Hag’s swoop for the Bayern Munich pair will take the Red Devils’ spending on new defenders to £93.3m this summer.
United have agreed a £38.5m deal for centre-back De Ligt with £4.2m in add-ons.
Personal terms are expected to be a formality.
They hope the Dutchman, 24, will link up in the long term with 18-year-old Leny Yoro, the French centre-back already injured after being signed for an initial £42m, rising to £52m.
Meanwhile, the Old Trafford outfit have also agreed a £16.8m deal with the German giants for full-back Mazraoui.
A deal for the 26-year-old Moroccan, which will see them pay around £12.8m up front, has been in place for some weeks.
The defensive pair previously worked with Ten Hag at Ajax.
Mazraoui is also a former Ajax team-mate of Antony — United’s £85.5m Brazilian flop.
It is hoped Mazraoui’s on-pitch connection will turn around Antony’s fortunes.
The deals for De Ligt and Mazraoui have always hinged on 26-year- old Aaron Wan-Bissaka moving on and the former Crystal Palace man is putting the finishing touches to a move to West Ham.
The Hammers have a full agreement with United for Wan-Bissaka, who will travel to London tomorrow morning to likely start his medical in the afternoon.
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That should allow the Mazraoui transfer to be completed.
Ten Hag last night refused to comment on the twin swoop but confirmed he would welcome defensive reinforcements.
The United boss said: “When we have some news, we will announce it.
“Until that point, we will work with the squad that is available.
“It’s clear we have the problems and we have to work, the players have to work to be available and the staff have to work.
“But together it should be a good collaboration with the players who are available.”
Bayern beat Tottenham 3-2 yesterday in a friendly in London.
Munich boss Vincent Kompany named Mazraoui and De Ligt on his bench but neither came on.
If both deals proceed, the Red Devils will have committed to spending £148m on new recruits this summer, taking into account the signing of £36.5m forward Joshua Zirkzee, 23, from Bologna.
De Ligt’s imminent arrival means United have given up for now on their pursuit of Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite.
