‘He’s the best young centre half on the planet’: Rio Ferdinand hails Matthijs de Ligt as the real deal after guiding Ajax to famous win over Juventus in Champions League quarter-finals
- Rio Ferdinand has hailed Matthijs de Ligt as the ‘world’s best young centre half’
- The former Manchester United defender was full of praise for the Ajax captain
- The 19-year-old scored Ajax’s second goal to knock Juventus out of Europe
- De Ligt has been linked with big-money moves to Barcelona and Bayern Munich
Rio Ferdinand has heaped huge amounts of praise on Ajax’s young captain Matthijs de Ligt following his impressive performance in the Champions League quarter-final win over Juventus.
The 19-year-old scored Ajax’s second goal in the second half to give the Dutch side the lead on the night while killing off any chance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Co from progressing further in the competition.
His performances in recent years have earned him attention from Europe’s biggest clubs and Ferdinand believes it is justified before labelling him as ‘the best young centre half on the planet’.
Rio Ferdinand has hailed Ajax skipper Matthijs de Ligt as the ‘world’s best young centre half’
The former Manchester United defender was full of praise for the 19-year-old on Tuesday night
As the Eredivisie side celebrated their huge victory in the Allianz Stadium, Ferdinand was full of praise for the club’s young skipper.
Ferdinand said: ‘[Frenkie] De Jong, already sign for Barcelona. De Ligt, the best young centre-half on the planet. Beautiful and majestic ball-playing ability. Scored a huge goal as well there as well.
‘The blend they’ve got with the young players and the older more experienced players – Tadic was almost given away by Southampton and is now producing miracles in the Champions League this year.
‘It’s exciting times for Ajax.’
De Ligt put Ajax into dreamland when he rose above two players to power in a header
Dutch giants Ajax defied the odds to knock Juventus out of the Champions League on Tuesday
Prior to the club’s famous win on Tuesday, Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag admitted earlier this week that there is ‘zero chance’ of his young captain staying at the club this summer.
The teenager has been at the centre of a transfer tussle after team-mate De Jong agreed to join Barcelona at the end of the season.
And the Spanish giants are favourites to also land De Ligt despite interest from Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Juventus.
‘There’s zero chance Matthijs de Ligt is staying at Ajax,’ Ten Hag told Suddeutschen Zeitung.
‘There are so many clubs interested in him. He will leave us this summer, but I don’t know whether he’ll join Bayern or Barcelona.’