Former Manchester United and Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho showered the ultimate praise on one key first-team player in Ruben Amorim’s squad at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho enjoyed success during his time at Old Trafford and the so-called ‘Special One’ led the Red Devils to the League Cup and the Europa League trophy.
The 62-year-old Portuguese coach, who is now in charge of Fenerbahce, became United manager in 2016 after Louis van Gaal was sacked by the Red Devils.
Following his League Cup and Europa League success in his debut season, Mourinho led United to second place in the Premier League in the 2017-18 season.
United also fell short of the FA Cup in the 2017-18 season, but Mourinho’s spell at the Premier League club ended during the 2018-19 campaign at Old Trafford.
The Fenerbahce boss was sacked as United manager in 2018 and Red Devils legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would later succeed him in the role at the club.
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Jose Mourinho, the manager of Fenerbahce, during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 round-of-16 second-leg match between Rangers FC and Fenerbahce SK at the Ibrox Stadium on March 13, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
What Jose Mourinho said about Matthijs de Ligt should be the only reassurance that Ruben Amorim needs at Man Utd
Jose Mourinho’s 2017 Europa League final win with Manchester United over Ajax had Matthijs de Ligt playing for the Dutch side in the encounter in Stockholm.
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Matthijs de Ligt made a real name for himself at Ajax and the 25-year-old Dutchman later became captain of the Eredivisie outfit under former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag.
The United defender was a key part of the sensational Ajax side that reached the Champions League semi-final under Erik ten Hag in the 2018-19 campaign.
Ajax would fall short to Tottenham in the aforementioned Champions League season, but Mourinho was already blown away by De Ligt when he was only 19.
Speaking at half-time in the second-leg semi-final encounter between Ajax and Tottenham, the former United manager praised De Ligt for his ability.
“In a funny way, I only believe De Ligt is 19 years old when I look at his face,” Mourinho told beIN Sports in 2019, as per the Manchester Evening News.
“I think he has fantastic maturity. I think he must be very, very intelligent. I think the kid is fantastic.”
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Ruben Amorim must keep Matthijs de Ligt at Man Utd and Jose Mourinho’s incredible praise shows why
Fast-forward from Tottenham’s 3-2 comeback win over Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena in 2019 and Matthijs de Ligt arrived at United from Bayern Munich in 2024.
De Ligt was reunited with former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag after United signed both him and Noussair Mazraoui in a deal worth nearly £60m last summer.
Ex-United manager Ten Hag might have been sacked by the Premier League club last October, but De Ligt has remained a key defensive influence for Amorim.
De Ligt has slotted in effortlessly in Amorim’s tactical system at United and the Netherlands international had a relatively solid debut season at Old Trafford.
The former Ajax and Juventus star’s campaign was disrupted by injuries, not to mention critics like Paul Scholes questioning if he was the right profile fit for United.
However, De Ligt has impressed United fans and it is hardly surprising the Red Devils centre-back has adapted well considering Mourinho’s past comments on him.