Matthijs de Ligt is about to leave FC Bayern. But can the record champions even afford to lose the Dutchman? A data-based comparison with Dayot Upamecano and Co. provides some insight.
FC Bayern is facing a major shake-up of its squad. The last season without a title has prompted a rethink among those responsible for the record champions. Sports director Max Eberl has been given the task by the supervisory board of bringing about financial recovery.
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This means that savings should be made primarily on player salaries and, if necessary, even big names and top earners should not be spared. One of these top earners is Matthijs de Ligt. The central defender moved from Juventus Turin to the Isar in 2022 for a transfer fee of 67 million euros and is expected to earn around 15 million euros per year.
De Ligt transfer close to completion
A salary that the Munich team would like to save. And there seem to be interested parties. Manchester United in particular have their eye on the Dutchman, and the signing already seems to be taking concrete shape.
Bayern have already signed a defender in return. Hiroki Ito was lured from Stuttgart and will strengthen Munich from next season. However, Ito’s solid, but not outstanding, statistics suggest that he could be more of an addition to the squad in Munich than a real reinforcement.
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In contrast to Jonathan Tah. The Munich team is also working on signing the champion from Leverkusen and Tah himself is said to be not averse to a commitment.
Is de Ligt Bayern’s best defender?
So is there no room for de Ligt? A departure of the 24-year-old would be met with incomprehension by many Bayern fans, as he was considered a key player in defence under coach Thomas Tuchel, especially towards the end of the season.
The numbers from last season also prove this. At the beginning, he was mostly on the bench, partly due to injuries, and only played three times from the start in 2023. In the second half of the season, however, he increasingly earned Tuchel’s trust and was in the starting eleven 13 times in 2024 after fellow center-back Dayot Upamecano had been noticed for several mistakes.
But is de Ligt indispensable as the best defender for Bayern? A look at the data from the past Bundesliga season from Sportec Solutions provides some insight. When he played, Bayern usually won. If de Ligt was on the pitch in 2023/2024, the Munich team would have scored an average of 2.4 points; without him, it was just 1.7 points.
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De Ligt shines with top values
He was particularly impressive with his strong pass rate of almost 97 percent. In this respect, none of the other Bavarian central defenders can hold a candle to him, and Bayern flirt Tah also has a slightly worse value at 96 percent.
The same applies to de Ligt’s strength in duels. With an average of 66 percent of duels won, the Dutchman stands out at Bayern, leaving Upamecano (59) and Minjae Kim (61) far behind – “Bayern-like”! Tah also can’t quite keep up with Leverkusen, with 63 percent of duels won.
In addition, de Ligt is a leader, becoming the youngest captain in the history of his first professional club Ajax Amsterdam at the age of 17, and therefore knows how to lead a team.
Here other defenders are better than de Ligt
The numbers also show that de Ligt is primarily focused on defensive work. Last season, he provided four assists, the second fewest of all Bayern defenders. Only Eric Dier (2), who only joined in January, was able to set up his teammates even less.
A value that does not carry much weight in Bayern’s highly manned offensive, but nevertheless shows that the European Championship driver does have weaknesses in the build-up of play compared to his competitors.
This means that de Ligt takes fewer risks and only plays three long passes per 90 minutes. Here, Upamecano (4) and especially Dier (6) are much more active and drive the game more. At the same time, however, de Ligt is also on a level with Kim (also 3) – and even ahead of Bayern flirt Tah, who only plays 2 long balls per game.
Tah as an adequate replacement?
Another major shortcoming is his lack of speed. Compared to his team-internal competitors Minjae Kim (34 km/h) and Dayot Upamecano (35 km/h), de Ligt (33 km/h) is not as fast. Tah even had the best speed of the trio last season, at just under 36 km/h.
Especially for the Munich team, who generally have a relatively high level of possession-oriented football, the speed of a defender is a criterion that cannot be neglected.
Nonetheless, de Ligt can boast top marks in most categories. It is all the more remarkable that he is considered the record champions’ number one farewell candidate.
This is also due to his high salary, which is said to be five million more than Upamecano’s. However, if Tah finds his way from Leverkusen to the Isar, the fans could at least be presented with an adequate replacement.
2024-07-04 16:52:21
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