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The latest wonderkid to be produced by Ajax and star for the club as well as the Netherlands national side, Matthijs de Ligt is a man in demand right now. His teammate Frenkie de Jong has already signed with Barcelona and will move there at the end of the season, but while De Ligt is definitely expected to leave Ajax, his destination right now is a question mark.
The classy central defender has been linked with a move to Barca to join his current teammate, but interestingly de Ligt has also been rumoured to be making the jump to Manchester United, where caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has just been installed as permanent manager.
So where should De Ligt go? For me, Old Trafford should be his preferred destination, and here are 3 reasons why.
#1 He belongs in the most competitive league
When he emerged into Ajax’s first team back in 2016/17, it was clear that de Ligt was a prospect to keep an eye on, and thus far in his young career, he’s lived up to the hype. The defender was practically ever-present in Ajax’s 2018/19 Eredivisie campaign, and this season he’s been fantastic, appearing 35 times in all competitions for the Amsterdam-based club.
His statistics show exactly why he’s such an in-demand player; his pass success rate is currently 90.7%, he rarely loses the ball and almost every tackle he attempts is a successful one.
The only issue is that he’s performing brilliantly in what is essentially a B-level league. Sure, Ajax have done great in Europe this season and they’re currently only second in the Eredivisie, but the fact is that the top league of the Netherlands lags behind the competition in England, Spain, Germany and Italy.
So why should he move to Manchester United rather than Barcelona or Bayern Munich? Well, because the Premier League is probably the world’s strongest league right now.
England is the only country to have four teams – United, plus Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool – in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and the Premier League is also far more competitive than LaLiga or the Bundesliga, with Chelsea and Arsenal also competing with those four teams for the priceless Champions League spots.
Throw in the fact that United aren’t the top dogs right now, and it all adds up to the fact that de Ligt would come to Old Trafford with less pressure on his shoulders than if he were to move to somewhere like the Nou Camp or the Allianz Arena. For a player who isn’t yet the finished article, a move to United would be perfect.
#2 United are crying out for a centre-back
Jose Mourinho might be long gone from Old Trafford now, but his summer row with chief executive Edward Woodward still reverberates around United when it comes to the Red Devils’ defence.
For those who have forgotten, Mourinho was demanding that United sign at least one new centre-back, while Woodward argued that the current personnel – Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones – were more than competent.
Unfortunately, despite United’s improved form under new boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it appears that Mourinho has been proven right. The Red Devils have conceded 40 goals in their 30 league matches thus far – the most of the top 6 and more than 7th placed Wolves. A new centre-back is clearly required, but is de Ligt the right man?
Well, a comparison between de Ligt and United’s most used defenders – Smalling and Lindelof – looks favourable. De Ligt has a better pass success rate than either player – in fact, his passing statistics are superior in every sense – and while he doesn’t average as many blocks or clearances as Smalling, that could be due to the weaker competition he faces in the Eredivisie.
He does, however, average more successful interceptions than both – suggesting he’s overall a more cultured defender.
If he were to join United, therefore, de Ligt would instantly become a key man for Solskjaer’s Red Devils, and assuming he’d be able to keep up his Ajax form at Old Trafford, he’d probably develop into an instant cult hero with the fans too – ala his fellow Dutch defender Jaap Stam.
United is the one destination where he’d instantly be invaluable – and that’s why he should go there.
#3 He’d fit in with Solskjaer’s youthful style
If this transfer rumour had come out last summer, then I’d have suggested that a move to United would’ve been a horrible move for de Ligt – Jose Mourinho was at the helm of a pretty unhappy squad and he’s notoriously bad at handling younger talent – evidenced in his treatment of players like Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba. But new Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a different breed entirely.
Since he took over as caretaker boss at United in December, Solskjaer has righted the ship, getting practically every player on board with his ways. The likes of Rashford, Pogba and Anthony Martial have looked rejuvenated under the Norwegian, Romelu Lukaku is now firmly back in the fold, and Solskjaer has also introduced younger talents such as Mason Greenwood, Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes into the first-team squad.
Essentially, Solskjaer is clearly a manager who favours younger talent, and as de Ligt is just 19 years old, it’s important that he’s treated correctly – and isn’t thrown under the bus should he struggle for form as you would suspect Mourinho may have done had he signed with the club last year.
De Ligt’s other suitors – clubs like Bayern Munich and Barcelona – are as big as United, but they don’t have a boss who seems as willing to embrace youth as Solskjaer, and that means that a move to either of them would make for far more pressure on de Ligt’s shoulders than a move to Old Trafford would.
In the end, the Dutchman and Solskjaer working together just sounds right – and it’s another reason why the Dutchman should head to United.
