Matthijs De Ligt's wife Annekee Molenaar posts loved-up photos with new Man United centre-back at Old Trafford - as she beams with pride next to her £43m hubby

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Matthijs De Ligt's wife Annekee Molenaar has taken to Instagram to post a flurry of loved-up pictures at Old Trafford with the new Manchester United signing, as he gets ready for tonight's Premier League curtain-raiser at home against Fulham.

The Dutch centre-back made the switch from Bayern Munich for £38million up front, with a further £5m in add-ons, earlier this week.

The former Ajax captain, 25, previously worked with manager Erik ten Hag at the Dutch club before his departure for Juventus in 2019, and the boss has been keen to link up with the defender for some time.

The boss revealed yesterday that De Ligt, along with Noussair Mazraoui who joined at the same time, will be available for this evening's Premier League season opener.

And the defender, with the aid of his 23-year-old model wife Molenaar, took to Old Trafford today to get a feel for the pitch ahead of a potential debut.

Matthijs De Ligt's wife Annekee Molenaar has posted a flurry of loved-up pictures at Old Trafford with the new Manchester United signing ahead of Friday's match against Fulham

The Dutch star made the switch from Bayern Munich for £38m with a further £5m in add-ons 

The defender, with the aid of his model wife, 23, took to Old Trafford to get a feel for the pitch

Braving the Manchester rain, the couple looked delighted to be following in the footsteps of United legends such as Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Cantona in setting foot on the hallowed turf.

In one photo, the pair are holding up De Ligt's number four shirt while the centre-back wears the club's new Adidas Originals tracksuit.

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In another, the couple share a kiss while remembering to display the Dutchman's jersey proudly to the camera. 

The model, who boasts nearly over 400,000 followers on Instagram, then embraces her husband as the duo stand by the corner flag on the famous pitch.

There is even a photo of De Ligt and Molenaar, who is the daughter of former Netherlands international Keje Molenaar, relaxing in the home dressing room as the centre-back gets used to his surroundings.

The pair began dating in 2018 when the footballer was surging through the ranks at Ajax and Molenaar was an aspiring model.

After five years, De Ligt proposed in 2023 and they got married just before the Euros - but things did not exactly go to plan as the cenre-back got called up last minute to return to the Netherlands camp for a warm-up game against Iceland on his wedding day.

Molenaar told Dutch Vogue: 'It's actually funny because the way the planning for our civil wedding went is a reflection of our relationship in general.

The couple looked delighted to be following in the footsteps of Manchester United legends

There is even a photo of De Ligt and Molenaar, who is the daughter of former Netherlands international Keje Molenaar, relaxing in the home dressing room, in front of his United shirt

The Netherlands centre-back arrived on a deal from Bayern Munich worth a total of £43million

The defender has racked up 45 appearances for his national team, scoring on two occasions

'At first, we planned to get married at the end of May, on our anniversary, but then it looked like Matthijs would make it to the Champions League final with Bayern Munich.

'So, we had to reschedule everything at the last moment.'

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Football is heavily ingrained in the model's family with brother Jip currently playing for Dutch amateur club DVVA. 

De Ligt Ajax's youth setup aged ten before surging through the ranks and into the first-team by 2016.

He guided Ten Hag's team to a famous semi-final run in the Champions League in 2019 before getting a big move to Italian giants Juventus the same summer.

After three years in Italy, De Ligt was transferred to Bayern where he has made just 53 appearances in the last two years.

The centre-back has played 45 times for his national team, scoring twice, but did not feature once during this summer's European Championships.

Not everyone has been impressed with the marquee summer signing and this week United legend Paul Scholes branded the former Bayern Munich man a 'second-rate defender'.

The Bayern Munich star was pictured at the airport in Germany on Monday ahead of the move

Manchester United announced their new signing on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday

Upon signing, De Ligt waved an emotional farewell to fans of his former club Bayern Munich 

Erik ten Hag (left) previously worked with the player during his spell at Ajax (pictured in 2018)

He told the Overlap: 'With Man Utd, we're talking about players who can't get into their team.

'He's [De Ligt] not playing for them [Bayern], that has to be a big concern, especially when Eric Dier is playing in front of him. That is a massive concern for me.

'Juventus got rid of him, he wasn't good enough there and he obviously hasn't been good enough at Bayern Munich. He's coming to us almost like a second-rate defender.'