5 Things You Should Know About Matthijs De Ligt

Here are 5 things you should know about Manchester United’s Matthijs De Ligt

1 - Did you know that Matthijs De Ligt was the first defender to win the Golden Boy award?

The Golden Boy is an award established by Tuttosport that is given by sports journalists to footballers playing in Europe under the age of 21 and perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year.

De Ligt won the Golden Boy award in 2018 at the age of 19, beating nominees such as Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and becoming the first defender ever to win the award.

Upon winning, De Ligt said,

"I'm delighted to become the first defender to win this prize, and knowing that only forwards or midfielders have won it so far makes it all the more special.

2 - Did you know that De Ligt used to be a midfielder?

De Ligt played in the Ajax youth academy since he was 9 years of age and spent a large part of his early career as a midfielder.

In an interview with UEFA De Ligt claimed "Until I was 15, I was an attacking midfielder. I played a lot in midfield, I scored some goals, gave some assists, and then suddenly they said to me it would be better for my career to go one position back, to centre-back. At the beginning, I was thinking: 'I don’t like being a defender,' but now I’m starting to realise that the way I was brought up like a midfielder is helping me. So I’m really happy that this was the development I had to go through."

3 - Did you know that De Ligt is the second-youngest ever goalscorer for Ajax?

In September 2016 De Ligt made his senior debut for Ajax against Willem 2 in the Dutch cup. The defender scored a header from a corner becoming the second-youngest goal scorer in Ajax history at 17 years and 40 days. The youngest ever goalscorer for Ajax is in fact Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf. Seedorf made his professional debut on 29 November 1992 against Groningen at the age of 16 years and 242 days.

4 - Did you know that De Ligt is the youngest player to feature in a European final?

In May 2017 De Ligt started the UEFA Europa League Final for Ajax against Manchester United. United defeated Ajax to win the trophy however De Ligt made history as the youngest player (17 years, 285 days) to ever play in a major European final.

5 - Did you know that De Ligt’s favourite jersey swap in his career was with former Manchester United player Raphael Varane?

Speaking in an interview with Bayern Munich when asked the question on what ‘His Best Jersey Swap’ was he said, “I remember when I was younger, about 18, I took the shirt of Varane, Raphael Varane from France and I was really proud of getting that shirt!”