Home Football Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui enjoy a meal at a luxury Manchester restaurant ahead of their £56m move to the Red Devils – as Erik ten Hag hopes the pair will complete medicals ahead of their Premier League opener against Fulham

Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui enjoy a meal at a luxury Manchester restaurant ahead of their £56m move to the Red Devils – as Erik ten Hag hopes the pair will complete medicals ahead of their Premier League opener against Fulham

Football — 08/13/2024

Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui should be ready to play against Fulham on Friday after they finish their medicals.

Matthijs de Ligt (left) and Noussair Mazraoui (right) were pictured leaving the Sexy Fish restaurant in Manchester on Tuesday evening

The two players will join from Bayern Munich for £55.8 million. They were seen eating out in Manchester on Monday night after flying in from Germany earlier that day.

People saw the two of them leaving the fancy Sexy Fish restaurant in Deansgate. De Ligt walked out of the restaurant holding hands with his model wife Annekee Molenaar, who is the daughter of former Netherlands player Keje Molenaar.

There were also a lot of fans outside the Asian restaurant taking pictures with the club’s new players, who had been seen arriving at Munich Airport earlier that day before flying to Manchester.

De Ligt was also seen holding hands with his wife as the pair stepped out of the upmarket restaurant in Deansgate

Sexy Fish offers a wide range of gourmet foods, from oysters to Waygu beef. Over the years, many other professional players, such as Manchester City winger Jack Grealish, have been to the restaurant. Along with that, Grealish got a parking ticket when he and his girlfriend Sasha Attwood went to the restaurant for dinner in 2023. 

Erik ten Hag has been very interested in De Ligt, a player from the Netherlands, during the trade window. 

The defenders also took photos and signed autographs with several fans outside the restaurant

After having a lot of key players get hurt last season, United has been looking for a lot of new defenders this summer. During the 2023–24 season, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, and Raphael Varane (who has since left the club) were all hurt at different times, which made it hard for Ten Hag to decide who to play.

De Ligt, who is 25 years old and went to the famous Ajax school, moved to Juventus from the Eredivisie team in 2019. In the 2019–20 season, he helped the Italian team win Serie A. He had played 117 times for the club in all categories.

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After that, he joined Bayern Munich in 2022 and was then picked for Ronald Koeman’s Euro 2024 team, even though he didn’t play in the event.

De Ligt (pictured) and Mazraoui have arrived at Munich Airport on Monday morning ahead of completing their moves to Man United in a blockbuster £55.8 double swoop

Also, Mazraoui, 26, came up through the Ajax school and played his first game in the Eredivisie in 2018. Later, in 2022, he joined Bayern Munich. He played 55 times for the team and helped them win the Bundesliga title that year.

Manchester City beat United in the FA Community Shield on Saturday, so United will want to get back at City when they play at Old Trafford on Friday night to start the Premier League season.

Ten Hag wants to get a new player before the end of the summer transfer window. This is because there are rumours that Scott McTominay might leave the club. Fulham has already made an offer for the Scottish player, but United has turned it down.

Last night, Burnley didn’t play midfielder Sander Berge against Luton because United was interested in him. United is still interested in PSG’s Manuel Ugarte, even though sources said they weren’t willing to pay PSG’s £51 million asking price for the Argentinian.