Oliver Kahn confirms Matthijs de Ligt ‘wants to join’ Bayern Munich

Juventus’ transfer activity is centered around one very large and talented player right now. The unfortunate part of it all is that it involves Matthijs de Ligt likely leaving Juve this summer, but both what the club can do over the course of the rest of the summer transfer window is very much directly

The general assumption has been that the 22-year-old de Ligt will be heading to Germany at some point this summer, with it only being a matter of time before something is resolved no matter how far apart Juve and Bayern Munich are in negotiations. (It’s almost like Juventus’ front office hasn’t just rolled over and caved to Bayern’s demands like a lot of the German giants’ fans thought!)

When it comes to who’s commenting on the negotiations, it’s very much been a one-sided deal, with Bayern’s front office doing pretty much all of the talking. And that includes Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn, who was asked about the de Ligt negotiations Saturday:

“We had talks and the player wants to come to FC Bayern,” said Kahn at Bayern Munich’s presentation of the Bayern Munich squad. “We’ll have more discussions and then see how it goes.”

Now, none of this is all that much of surprise considering the simple fact that de Ligt has already agreed to personal terms with Bayern, according to reports nearly two weeks ago. Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic wouldn’t have flown to Italy for all of about a two-hour visit if he didn’t think his side of the negotiations had a good chance of closing things in a matter of time.

How long that time may be is a complete unknown at this point.

While reports are pretty much repeating themselves at this point when it comes to the fact that Bayern Munich will table a new offer soon, both teams are set to be leaving on U.S. tours in a matter of days. Bayern reportedly want to close the de Ligt deal before their preseason tour begins, and it will obviously be noteworthy if the young Dutchman isn’t included on the Juve squad heading to the States early next week.

Bayern plays Major League Soccer’s D.C. United in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Juventus opens its U.S. tour against Liga MX side Chivas Guadalajara in Las Vegas two days later.

Juventus manager Max Allegri commented on de Ligt’s status during his press conference ahead of the Bianconeri’s U.S. tour, saying: “De Ligt is still a Juventus player and has been training very well. I basically train the available players and, at the moment, de Ligt is a Juventus player. The transfer market is open until the 31st of August, so anything could happen. I’m really very happy with how he’s behaving and how the club has been making these important signings. And if he does leave the club, I’m sure the club will replace him in the best possible way.”