Player Profile: Matthjis de Ligt

Ajax Amsterdam are famed for not only being one of the most popular football clubs in Europe but their rich production of talented players over the years from football great Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Patrick Kluivert, Edger Davids, Edwin van der Sar, Dennis Bergkamp, Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder. Now, they have another academy graduate that the likes of Barcelona and Manchester City have been keeping an eye on. His name is Matthjis de Ligt.

Matthjis de Ligt is a 19-year old Dutch centre-back playing for Ajax Amsterdam in the Eredivise (Dutch League). He was recently awarded the Golden Boy award which is given to the best young player under the age of 21 by Italian publication Tuttosport. He beat out the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Justin Kluivert, Patrick Cutrone and Vinicius Jr. becoming the first defender to win the award.

De Ligt made his debut for Ajax on 21st September, 2016 in a KNVB Cup game against Willem II, scoring after 25 minutes becoming Ajax's second youngest goalscorer. He made 11 appearances in the Eredivise scoring twice and made 23 appearances in all competitions including playing in The Europa League Final losing to Manchester United. Last season was his first as a first team player for Ajax playing 31 times in the Eredivise, 37 in all competitions.

De Ligt is in a mould of a ball-playing defender whose role is to build up play from the back showing that he's a good player on the ball but also a good passer as well. He has made 71 passes per game in the Champions League with a pass accuracy of 90.5%. He's also a talented defender as well as a threat from set-pieces. He stands at 188cm (6'2" inches) making him a potent threat from set-pieces and his defensive numbers are pretty decent with 2.2 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game in the Champions League this season.

This season, de Ligt was appointed captain and has made 26 appearances in all competitions as Ajax have made it to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in a decade. He made his international debut for the Netherlands on 25th March 2017 against Bulgaria, currently on 13 caps and forming a defensive partnership alongside Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk.

It's no wonder the likes of Barcelona are monitoring him as they see him as a successor to Gerard Pique and would fit well into Barça's style of play which is similar to Ajax. At 19, there's still a learning to learn to learn for the Dutch defender as his concentration in games is his biggest weakness. However, being appointed captain at 19 and have over 100 appearances for Ajax, de Ligt has been a lot and it will be exciting to see how he develops for club and country.