Matthijs De Ligt
Manchester City had a memorable 8-0 victory against Watford over the weekend. Fernandinho started in central defence on the day and did a fairly good job with John Stones injured.
Stones hasn’t necessarily been very convincing since he’s joined the club. Hence, it wasn’t necessarily a big miss as City’s central defenders don’t ever have much defending to do.
The real miss will be Aymeric Laporte, who’ll be out for the year. Guardiola’s woes have been compounded by the fact that they have also lost Vincent Kompany.
One player City were linked with over the summer – and would’ve been an ideal candidate to partner any of the current central defenders at the club – was Dutch international Matthijs de Ligt.
The youngster on to join Juventus after a fantastic campaign with Ajax, where they won a domestic treble and made it to the Champions League semi-final.
The 20-year-old was the captain of the side and was an absolute colossus at the back, being aerially dominant in both boxes.
He was a symbol of Ajax’s principles by initiating attacks from the back and being able to defend 1v1, allowing most of their other players to venture forward.
Guardiola is a well-known disciple of Johan Cruyff, who is an iconic figure at Ajax and it would’ve been great for De Ligt to have joined Pep to continue his footballing education.
City would’ve found a ready-made replacement for Vincent Kompany. After all, De Ligt has the leadership skills, the aggression and the footballing abilities that Kompany offered.
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