De Ligt: I want to help United make new history

Asked by club media's Steve Bartram about what convinced him to make the move to M16, Matthijs revealed it was the new impetus that he senses within the club.

"I actually really like the project," he began. "It's always nice to go somewhere and to feel that you're part of a new project, to feel that you're part of something new. 

"Besides that, it's an amazing club, one of the biggest clubs in the world, with an amazing history, a lot of amazing players, amazing defenders...

"I'm really excited. I actually waited a long time! The whole vacation I was waiting for the message, that it was a done deal, and now finally it is. So I can't wait to start."

While the vision sold by United's new football department was clearly critical to De Ligt's decision to swap Munich for Manchester, he also shows a keen feel for the club's history within the interview.

And, maybe more importantly, a thirst for taking on the challenge of hauling us towards something like the heights of the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

"There's a lot of history in this club," he marvelled. "I grew up with the team of Cristiano Ronaldo, Vidic, Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes... Edwin van der Sar, the Dutchman. There's so much history in this club.

"I'm speaking about 20 years ago but, like, even more [further back] when they won the Champions League [in 1999], the Treble... it's such a big historic club. You can feel this already, it's in the air here... you can breathe the history.

"It's an amazing challenge to have now this possibility in England, for one of the biggest clubs in the world, in the biggest competition in the world. I'm driven by these new challenges; I like to get challenged.