Bayern Munich chief executive Max Eberl has said selling defender Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United makes perfect sense, despite the Dutchman being a fan favourite at the Bavarians.

The Dutchman, along with full-back Noussair Mazraoui, moved from the Bavarians to Old Trafford in a deal worth a combined £60m and made his debut for the club in the win over Fulham last week. 

But since Bayern will start their Bundesliga campaign against Wolfsburg this week (August 25), there has been talk of whether it is appropriate to sell the fans’ favorite player. Eberl clearly believes that the football business uses brains before heart.

“I understand that there are fans’ favourite players, but we don’t make decisions based on fans’ preferences,” the head of player trading said. 

“We discussed with Vincent and then made a decision based on the squad.” 

“Of course we know what Matthijs performances are like on the pitch and we never speak badly about him.”

“But we made the decision based on the position of defender, Promotion Ufabet we wanted a left-footed center back, that’s why we signed Hiroki Ito.” 

“We spent money on Michael Olise, Joao Palhinha and Hiroki.” 

“So the club has to balance the finances as well. You can’t do what Chelsea did, where they went into the season with 45 players in the first team. We made it clear to the players and made the decision. That’s all.” 

The deal looks like a win-win situation for all parties involved as De Ligt joins his old boss Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford , who is looking for another centre-back.