Former Manchester United manager insists Matthijs de Ligt will thrive at Old Trafford following his £38.5million summer move… and reveals the major difference between the Dutch star and his failed former team-mate
- Former Manchester United manager backs Matthijs de Ligt to shine at club
- De Ligt completed a £38.5m move from Bayern Munich in the summer
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off!, available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday
A former Manchester United manager has insisted Matthijs de Ligt will thrive at the club following his £38.5million summer move.
The Dutch centre-back joined the Red Devils last month from Bayern Munich in a move that also saw full-back Noussair Mazraoui join the club for a combined fee of £60million.
He has featured in all three of United’s Premier League games so far and made his first start in the 3-0 defeat to rivals Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the difficulties he faced in his first start, high hopes are being placed on the 25-year-old and a former Red Devils manager has insisted he will be valuable to the club.
Former United manager Rene Meulensteen, who worked as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant, reflected on the nature of De Ligt and compared him to Red Devils failure Donny van de Beek.
Former Manchester United manager has backed Matthijs de Ligt to succeed at the Red Devils
Former United assistant Rene Meulensteen (left) has given his thoughts on the defender
Speaking to The Sun, Meulensteen said: “Matthijs is a completely different person, a different position and personality.
“When Matthijs arrived at Ajax, he was young and they quickly made him captain. He had a strong influence in defence, he was strong in defence, powerful, he was not afraid to go forward.”
“I’ve always been a big fan of Matthijs de Ligt, and I wasn’t surprised that a big club signed him. Juventus did, but it was interesting to see that he ended up spending his career at Bayern Munich.
“I think he is equipped for Premier League football, because of his physicality and he is a young player with Champions League experience.
“It will be an interesting series of developments in the coming games whether Ten Hag will opt to partner De Ligt and (Lisandro) Martinez, which means (Harry) Maguire is falling through again.”
While this summer saw De Ligt join the club, it also saw former Ajax star van de Beek leave and join Spanish side Girona after four years at Old Trafford.
Giving his opinion on van de Beek’s departure, he said: “A combination of things, because Donny has become a bit of a victim of the fact that he plays in similar areas to Bruno and it’s a very similar situation to Mason Mount when he was trying to find his feet.
De Ligt played 69 minutes in United’s 3-0 defeat to rivals Liverpool on Sunday afternoon
Meulensteen also gave his opinion on Donny van de Beek’s difficulties with the Red Devils.
“Bruno has shown his value and his importance to Manchester United, so he’s not going to leave. And he’s a better player for the Premier League and Manchester United than Donny van de Beek.”
“Donny is a solid player, but at Manchester United you need players who make the difference.”
De Ligt, who took the No.4 shirt, said on the transfer: “As soon as I heard that Manchester United wanted me, I felt excited to take on a new challenge at such a historic club.
“In the conversations that followed, I was impressed by the vision outlined by the football leaders and the role they assigned to me.”
“Erik ten Hag shaped the early stages of my career so he knows how to get the best out of me and I look forward to working with him again,” added the Dutch international.
