De Ligt urged to snub Man Utd again by former Old Trafford favourite

Holland defender Matthijs de Ligt has been told to snub Manchester United again this summer by a former Old Trafford favourite.

Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been tipped to try and make another move for the Juventus centre-back, who had been targeted prior to United bringing in Harry Maguire last summer.

De Ligt, however, opted to join Juve from Ajax instead, although the 20-year-old has made just 15 starts for the Italian champions and has struggled to fully adapt to life in Serie A.

That has led to rumours of United renewing their interest in the player, with Solskjaer said to be dreaming of the chance to pair De Ligt with Maguire at the heart of his defence.

But Red Devils legend Jaap Stam, who won three Premier League titles during his time at the club, has warned De Ligt against quitting Turin.

He said: “I think it’s fundamental that De Ligt stays at Juve for many years, because it’s the only way to improve, by dealing with the best, learning to live with pressure in important Champions League and Serie A games.

“He was criticised a little but had to understand how to adapt to a different style of football. He’s still young and Matthijs is at a big club with far more pressure than he was accustomed to.

“The standard of opponent he is facing in Italy is also far higher than in the Netherlands.

“Juventus invested a large sum to sign him, some way would say too much, but in my view he has done well so far.

“The experience has made him believe in himself more. He just needs to learn Italian so he can communicate with his teammates.”

De Ligt has previously laughed off talk of a move to United, but his early struggles in Italy have not stopped rumours that a switch could be on the cards – particularly with many experts feeling that the defender’s game is better suited to English football than Italian.

 

 

Meanwhile, Alan Shearer has explained why he only ranked United great Cristiano Ronaldo as the seventh-best European import in Premier League history.

Shearer placed Ronaldo below Roy Keane, Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona, David Silva and Dennis Bergkamp in his list of top ten Premier League players from the continent.

The selection drew surprise from fellow pundit Ian Wright, who had Ronaldo third on his own list, behind only Keane and Henry. Read more…