Manchester United signed Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich when his stock was at an all-time low.
In the Netherlands, prior to his Manchester United resurgence, Matthijs de Ligt had become something of a joke.
Dutch press were regularly slamming De Ligt for his national team performances, which saw him cast a shadow, at Bayern Munich, of the player who broke through looking like a world beater at Ajax.
However, despite being pushed out the door, Bayern Munich fans launched a petition to keep De Ligt, although it was ultimately not successful.
United landed the signing of De Ligt for £38m in August 2024 and after joining, he immediately looked the part, dominating in training under Erik ten Hag.
Jamie Carragher lauded De Ligt as potentially world class and now after a pretty hot and cold first season, campaign number two has started very strongly for the 26-year-old.
Viktor Gyoekeres of Arsenal battles for possession with Matthijs de Ligt
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Matthijs de Ligt is showing signs of his ultimate potential at Manchester United
Despite his youth, De Ligt has been a familiar name in European football for almost a decade, having broken through as a young sensation at Ajax.
After this, United tried to sign De Ligt in 2019 but he ultimately moved to Juventus, where he failed to live up to expectations.
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De Ligt admitted he wasn’t ready for United at the time, but now he finds himself a senior player at Old Trafford and his 2025/26 campaign has begun sensationally.
Back in 2019, Ten Hag predicted De Ligt would become one of the best, and early signs are that as he enters his prime years, the Dutchman could finally be living up to this billing.
As quoted by Sky Sports, back in 2019, Ten Hag raved about De Ligt, adding that he expects the defender has levels to go in his development.
“I do not know if Matthijs de Ligt has shown 60 to 80 per cent of his potential,” Erik ten Hag admitted in 2019.
“But we are talking about one of the best defenders in Europe and I have no doubt that he will soon be number one in this position.”
De Ligt has all the tools to be among the best in world football, and it was thought that eventually things would click.
It could now be Ruben Amorim who gets the best version of De Ligt as the defender makes good on his predicted quality.
Matthijs de Ligt was a man mountain for United against Arsenal
De Ligt is a former Golden Boy winner which speaks to his quality, while he was also compared with Franz Beckenbauer.
This is all ancient history to the United defender though and he is desperate to become a star in M16. Well, if he continues to perform like he did against Arsenal, it will be a matter of time until he is considered to have reached world class status.
Matthijs de Ligt vs Arsenal
90 minutes
9.3km covered
30.8km/h top speed
49/57 passes completed
1 chance created
74 touches
1/2 tackles
2 blocks
6 clearances
10 defensive contributions
4 recoveries
9/15 duels won
This performance came against the much hyped but greatly disappointing Viktor Gyokeres, who couldn’t cope with De Ligt, besides winning one shoulder tackle which meant very little.
If De Ligt manages a full season like this, he will certainly be considered world class by United and elsewhere.