Remarkable trophy feat puts Matthijs de Ligt in same company as Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham as Erik ten Hag takes spending on ex-Ajax stars to £250m
Matthijs De Ligt has become the fifth former Ajax player to re-unite with Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag.
A reunion with his former boss could be the perfect tonic to return De Ligt to the form that made him the 2018 Golden Boy award winner.
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Italian publication Tuttosport established the award in 2003 and is given to the most impressive young player in Europe, with England superstar Jude Bellingham the most recent winner.
The list of previous winners is a who's who in football: Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Wayne Rooney have all been recipients of the award.
However, the list also includes players who sadly never lived up to their potential.
Mario Balotelli, who won the award in 2010, is one recipient who springs to mind.
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Former Manchester United midfielder Anderson, the 2008 winner, is another.
De Ligt won the award in 2018, but there's one big difference between him and the other 20 recipients: he is the only defender on the list.
The Dutch international further solidified his reputation as one of Europe's brightest talents with a starring role in Ajax's famous run to the 2019 Champions League semi finals under Ten Hag.
Were it not for the late, late heroics of then-Tottenham forward Lucas Moura, Ajax would have been into its first Champions League final since 1996.
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But it wasn't long before the vultures swooped in to pick apart the Dutch giants.
De Ligt, 19 at the time, was sold to Juventus for approximately £73.3million while superstar midfielder Frenkie De Jong, another jewel in Ajax's crown, moved to Barcelona in a £74m deal in the 2019 summer window.
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Although De Ligt enjoyed a reasonably strong first season at Juventus, he missed 28 games in his second due to a mix of injuries and COVID.
De Ligt's stint in Turin lasted three seasons before he moved to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022 for an initial £57m.
However, his time in Germany followed a similar narrative to his spell in Italy of an impressive debut season followed by a second riddled with injuries and absences.
Tony Cascarino questions if Manchester United signing Matthijs De Ligt will actually improve their defence
De Ligt ultimately missed 20 games last season for Bayern with a knock as well as an inner knee ligament tear.
In De Ligt's absence, Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min Jae built a formidable partnership in the heart of Bayern's backline while the addition of Eric Dier last January increased competition at centre back.
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With no starting role guaranteed, De Ligt emerged as a transfer target for several clubs but United ultimately won the £38m battle for his signature.
Granted, De Ligt's value has declined at each stop he's made since leaving Ajax.
But, at the age of 25 and returning to work under the manager that made him into one of Europe's hottest properties in 2019, there's no reason why he can't discover his form of old.
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The decision to move for De Ligt also highlights Ten Hag's faith in the Dutch international despite having not worked together for five years.
In fact, Ten Hag evidently trusts plenty of his former Ajax stars given he's brought five of them to Old Trafford since 2022.
Lisandro Martinez, Antony, Andre Onana, Noussair Mazraoui and now De Ligt have all linked back up with their former boss, with the five players costing United approximately £250m.
Ajax themselves got in on the fun, posting 'Manchester is red' on and a winking emoji on X not long after United announced the arrivals of Mazraoui and De Ligt.
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Whether Ten Hag bringing back two more of his former Ajax charges is a wise move remains to be seen, but De Ligt won the Golden Boy award for a reason.
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De Ligt's performances in the Premier League will be highly scrutinised, such is the microscopic analysis of the English top flight.
But being back with his former boss may prove to be the perfect environment for him to remind his critics why he had clubs falling at his feet in 2019.
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