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Manchester United have lastly agreed a payment with Bayern Munich for Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt after spending all summer time chasing the colossal centre-back.
The 24-year-old comes with an enormous status but additionally a little bit of cloud over his head after a questionable season final yr below the administration of Thomas Tuchel, the place he dropped out of the primary group and likewise did not play a single minute of Euro 2024 with the Netherlands regardless of being chosen within the ultimate squad.
The Leiderdorp native will now have 4 of the most important golf equipment on the planet on his resume on the comparatively younger age of 24 after breaking by at Ajax and securing big-money transfers to Juventus after which Bayern Munich.
De Ligt was solely 17 when he made his debut for Ajax and made an excellent impression, scoring after solely 25 minutes of motion. He additionally performed alongside present United keeper Andre Onana towards Jose Mourinho’s Pink Devils within the Europa League ultimate of 2017.
He grew to become captain in March 2018 shortly after Erik ten Hag took the Ajax job and gained the Golden Boy award in December of that yr, highlighting how well-respected he was across the continent.
He was a vital member of the swashbuckling, fresh-faced aspect that amazed Europe in 2019, as they so almost made it to the ultimate of the Champions League, solely to lose within the final seconds towards Tottenham Hotspur.
The present United supervisor is clearly an enormous fan of the participant and has made no secret of his admiration for him previously.
Talking in 2019 when discussing his captain’s potential, he opined, “We’re speaking about top-of-the-line defenders in Europe and I’ve little doubt that he’ll quickly be primary on this place.”
There is no such thing as a doubt that De Ligt has many facets of his recreation that ought to match effectively into the Premier League and English soccer.
He “is a typical bodily centre-back and is commonly considered a whole defender. He’s a ‘stopper’, an old-school method to defending that relishes the bodily aspect of the sport, intending to ensure nothing will get previous him.”
He’s additionally very robust within the air and has a excessive success fee in direct duels. His aerial dominance and 6 foot 2 body ought to work effectively with the extra diminutive Lisandro Martinez.
Nonetheless, De Ligt is way more than a tricky centre again. “He boasts excellent technical skills and is excellent at ball development and long-range passing. In contrast to any defender his age, Matthijs combines an enormously highly effective physique with wonderful build-up play.”
Final season, he had “a 93.1% cross accuracy per 90 minutes” which positioned him “within the 96th percentile vs. centre backs within the high 5 European leagues.”
He has been labelled a “Rolls-Royce defender” who “brings calm, charisma, and skilled management” to a backline.
Though, like every participant, he’s not good.
Slight weaknesses embody De Ligt’s 1.11 tackles per 90, inserting him within the nineteenth percentile. Equally, the 1.02 blocks per 90 place the centre again within the twentieth percentile, subsequently if United can not dominate possession or in the event that they defend in a extra backs-to-the-wall sort method they needed to final season at occasions, they won’t see one of the best of him.
As well as, regardless of his skill to play in a excessive line, he’s not the quickest and if paired alongside Lisandro Martinez, lack of tempo might be a possible problem.
United legends Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand have raised considerations over the switch with the previous claiming that he was involved by the signing as he hasn’t performed a lot for Bayern Munich and queried why United would need to herald a participant who was deemed not adequate by each Juve and the Bavarians.
While this take is a little bit harsh to say the least, Rio Ferdinand’s considerations will most likely resonate a little bit extra with United followers, particularly as he was an elite centre-back himself.
He claimed, “I feel it’s an enormous ask for him and all eyes are going to be on him. Large stress, large alternative for him, however there’s a variety of uncertainty I feel with this signing due to his earlier seasons with two large golf equipment (Juventus and Bayern Munich) not going in addition to we’d have anticipated.”
Though in defence of De Ligt, neither of these golf equipment have been significantly secure in the previous few years, usually chopping and altering managers and taking part in in completely completely different types.
The large benefit the large centre-back may have is that he will probably be becoming a member of a group consisting of Ten Hag and quite a few different Dutch coaches who will know his recreation inside out.
What’s extra, he has additionally performed alongside Andre Onana and fellow newcomer Noussair Mazraoui, who will each be very accustomed to his fashion of play.
Lisandro Martinez, without having performed with De Ligt, can even be very accustomed to Ten Hag’s most well-liked fashion of play and United will hope that the trio of Onana, Martinez and De Ligt on the again can hit it off from the beginning and take the group’s taking part in out from the again to a very new degree.
In conclusion, there’s a danger like every switch however the upside of this deal is very large. With Leny Yoro unavailable till not less than November and having the utmost belief and respect of his former supervisor, the Dutch worldwide may have each likelihood to achieve a well-recognized surroundings of Dutch coaches and copious quantities of former Eredivisie gamers.
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