Jaap Stam believes it is “fundamental that Matthijs de Ligt stays at Juventus for many years” for his career, growth process and learning "the art of defending."
Despite initial difficulties, De Ligt has always laughed off speculation linking him with Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United under a year after his €85m move from Ajax.
“My opinion of his first few months in Serie A is positive,” former Milan and Lazio defender Stam told TuttoJuve.com.
Jaap Stam believes it is “fundamental that Matthijs de Ligt stays at Juventus for many years” for his career, growth process and learning "the art of defending."
Despite initial difficulties, De Ligt has always laughed off speculation linking him with Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United under a year after his €85m move from Ajax.
“My opinion of his first few months in Serie A is positive,” former Milan and Lazio defender Stam told TuttoJuve.com.
“He was criticised a little, but had to understand how to adapt to a different style of football. He’s still young and Matthijs is at a big club with far more pressure than he was accustomed to. The standard of opponent he is facing in Italy is also far higher than in the Netherlands.
“Juventus invested a large sum to sign him, some would say too much, but in my view he has done well so far. This experience has made him believe in himself more. He just needs to learn Italian so he can communicate better with his teammates.”
It was said that one of the main reasons De Ligt chose Juve above other options was the opportunity to play with Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini.
“They are top level defenders, real winners accustomed to the biggest games,” continued Stam. “They are the best centre-backs in Italy and they can teach him so much on the art of defending. It’s more of a team concept at Juventus than with Ajax, where the focus is on one-on-one situations.
“I think it’s fundamental that De Ligt stays at Juve for many years, because it’s the only way to improve, by dealing with the best, learning to live with pressure in important Champions League and Serie A games.”