As if there wasn’t enough pressure on Matthijs de Ligt since moving to Juventus this Summer. He has to deal with a new culture, playing at a higher level and the pressure that a large transfer fee brings. Just in case that wasn’t enough, it sounds like his place in the Dutch team may be up for grabs if he doesn’t improve quickly in Italy.
Some of Holland manager Ronald Koeman’s comments to Studio Voetbal were reported by Dutch outlet NOS. Koeman said he isn’t concerned about de Ligt being on the bench at the moment but if the situation continues into October it could then become an issue.
The report suggests that de Ligt is struggling a bit to adapt to the way Juventus play and a shaky start has seen him on the bench for now.
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Rafael van der Vaart also waded in as NOS reported he said that the young defender should’ve moved to Bayern instead of Juventus.
It’s still early days for him in Italy, but it does look like everyone expected him to slot in and adapt to the Italian style straight away.
The Guardian reported that Juventus paid a fee of €75m to bring the Ajax star to Italy so it’s understandable that expectations were high. He was outstanding for Ajax last year but it’s so easy to forget he’s still a young man and will need time to adapt.
If he doesn’t manage to gain a place in the Juventus side over the next few months it will be interesting to see what Koeman does in terms of his selection.