Man Utd already have two perfect welcome presents ready for imminent £60m arrivals

Manchester United will be fully focused on the start of their Premier League campaign when Fulham visit Old Trafford on Friday night. But before that meeting, Erik ten Hag is expected to add two new players to his squad and offload another to complete a defensive shake-up in the summer transfer window.

Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui are set to undergo a medical at Carrington as early as today before completing their moves from Bayern Munich.

United have agreed a £60million double deal for the Bayern duo, made up of £43m for De Ligt and £17m for Mazraoui to bolster Ten Hag’s depth.

In the departures suite, Aaron Wan-Bissaka will imminently complete a transfer to West Ham United for a fee in the region of £15m.

De Ligt joins Leny Yoro in reinforcing United’s centre-back department this summer for a combined £102m, replacing Raphael Varane and Willy Kambwala.

The 24-year-old has been a long-term target for Ten Hag and became available after new Bayern boss Vincent Kompany informed him that he didn’t feature in his plans.

United can make his reunion with his former Ajax coach all the more sweet by handing De Ligt the perfect welcome present.

Since the start of the 2017/18 season at Ajax, De Ligt has worn the No. 4 shirt, taking it to Juventus and then the Allianz Arena.

Sofyan Amrabat donned the shirt last term, but he has since returned to Fiorentina after United decided against making his loan permanent for £21m.

It means the No. 4 shirt is vacant – with Yoro taking the No. 15 – and it undoubtedly has De Ligt’s name all over it… or at least it will.

Mazraoui’s shirt number preference is slightly more peculiar. The 26-year-old has worn the No. 40 across his two years as a Bayern player.

Before he left Ajax for Germany, he was Ten Hag’s No. 12. However, that shirt is currently occupied by Tyrell Malacia, although he hasn’t featured for United since May 2023 due to a serious knee injury.

The No. 40, unsurprisingly, is free and could be the shirt Mazraoui selects. Despite leaving Ajax as their No. 12, he started with the No. 40 shirt after graduating from the academy.

Both De Ligt and Mazraoui have most recently worn the No. 3 shirt for the Netherlands and Morocco, respectively.

Eric Bailly vacated that shirt in 2022, so it could be just as attractive an option for either new arrival.