Manchester United target Matthijs de Ligt is being investigated by German police ‘on suspicion of a hit-and-run’.
The centre back was left out of Bayern Munich’s touring squad to South Korea at the end of July, as rumours have continued to gather that he could be on his way to Old Trafford this summer.
Erik ten Hag has previously disclosed that United do have an interest in the defender, as they look to bolster their defensive stocks having been hampered by a string of injuries to several of their key defenders last season.
But according to BILD, the 24-year-old is said to have ‘rammed a parked car’ close to the club’s Sabener Strasse training ground on Wednesday morning while driving his Audi Q8 e-tron – worth approximately £63,000 (€74,400).
The outlet claims the Netherlands international then ‘simply drove away’ from the scene, with witnesses having called police emergency lines to alert them of the incident. BILD also state that De Ligt’s car was subsequently towed away and impounded.
According to specialist lawyer for Marc Wederhake, from Munich, De Ligt could face a prison sentence as a maximum penalty for the incident, if found guilty.
‘If convicted, you face up to three years in prison or a fine. Fines are often imposed when people are convicted of such crimes,’ the lawyer told BILD.
A specialist lawyer for criminal and traffic law from Stolzenau, Katharina Thueuerkaufer, said to BILD: ‘A hit-and-run can only be committed intentionally. Now it must be proven that he perceived the accident acoustically, visually or tangibly.’
United had also been keen to sign Everton defender Jarrod Branthwaite but Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his leadership group were unwilling to meet the Toffee’s valuation of the English star. United appear to have since turned their attention to De Ligt, who joined Bayern Munich from Juventus back in 2022.
Reports from The Athletic last week claimed that Man United had ‘made an opening double bid for both De Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui’, but Bayern had ‘rejected the move as they held out for a higher fee.’
‘It remains to be seen whether Matthijs de Ligt will come, I know him well,’ Ten Hag said to Dutch media outlet AD in July, on whether United were lining up a move for De Ligt.
‘I wanted to sign him two years ago but at that time, he was already very far along to join Bayern. Believe it or not, his name did not come from me in the process,’ Ten Hag had previously stated.
‘During my vacation I was three or four weeks out of the process. During that period it was really the club, the newly equipped scouting and recruitment department, that brought in these players.
‘The fact that there are also Dutch people among them is in fact a coincidence. Primarily, these were players who were proposed from our organisation. But of course I support it, let that be clear. And we still make the choice together.’
More to follow…
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk