The twenty year old Matthijs de Ligt made a top transfer in the summer of 2019. The Dutch defender played the Europa League final at the age of 17 and a Champions League semi-final at the age of 19. He 117 matches in the first team of Ajax and made a huge impression on the football community. Despite his young age the big teams in Europa were after him. Manchester United and Barcelona are two of the teams that wanted to add him to their squad. The youngster opted for a move to Turin to play for Juventus.

Matthijs de Ligt bad start in Italy

The start of his Juventus career was a big shaky. He was involved in some unfortunate handball moments. Loads of football fans talked about him as a failure. I noticed mainly Manchester United fans were extremely happy to talk bad about him after he made a mistake. It looks like they want him to fail because he never signed for them. De Ligt, who also got a lot of criticism after his debut for the national team, stayed imperturbable.

The Wall

Before the lockdown, he showed improvement match by match. He scored the winning goal in the derby with Torino. A goal that boosted his confidence. His most recent performances turned the newspapers. In his four post-lockdown matches, Juventus haven’t conceded a goal. The centre with De Ligt and Bonucci is absolutely flawless at this moment. The Italian press is convinced De Ligt has a huge future. They even call him Il Muro (The Wall). They see him as the leader of the defense, something that’s extraordinary for a 20 year old in the Italian league. The press is even wondering if there’s a place for Chiellini in the team. The experienced Italian is currently injured, but it will a tough task for him to get back into the starting eleven.