Captain at 20, Leader since birth – how has De Ligt’s journey been so far in Italy and why did he choose Juventus?
The most obvious reason everyone assumed was the Cristiano Ronaldo factor. De Ligt himself said that CR7 asked him to consider Juventus after the European Final between Portugal and The Netherlands.
“No, that wasn’t the reason,” De Ligt explained, “I had a lot of time to choose between the clubs I could join, and when I put everything on paper, Juventus was the best choice for me. ”
De Ligt went on to talk about how it has been at Turin.
“Juventus told me: ‘Alright, you’re young, but the reason we want to buy you is because you’re really mature, you know how to handle pressure. It’s going be difficult for you but we have confidence in you.”
“When I entered the Juventus dressing room for the first time, I was like a kid in a candy shop: ‘There’s Buffon! There’s Ronaldo!”
“I arrived later than everyone else (last summer) and I went straight into the tour of Asia. I didn’t even train and I had to play two days later against Spurs. After 20 minutes I couldn’t breathe any more….
“In the beginning I wasn’t as fit as the year before. At Juve, we play zonal marking, before, I always played man marking. I had to get used to when to press and when to move backwards.”
His start was always going to be tough.
“I was in the shower after the Torino game and the others were saying ‘It’s unbelievable, it’s like there’s a magnet in your arm!”
“When I make a mistake or handball, I’m not the kind of guy to get upset if someone says something. I like to make a joke about it.”
De Ligt also went on to speak about his mentors in VVD, Chiellini and Bonucci.
“I talk a lot with these guys about how they see situations, and also how calm they are and you try to pick some attributes from them to improve your own game. But the most important thing is to observe them but not change your own style.
See More: Juventus Players Salaries 2020 (Weekly Wages List)
