Liverpool FC told to sign 19-year-old to complement Virgil van Dijk
Jaap Stam believes Liverpool FC should attempt to sign Ajax defender Matthijs De Ligt to partner Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool FC should look to sign Matthijs De Ligt to partner Virgil van Dijk next season, Jaap Stam has claimed.
The Ajax defender earned rave reviews for his performances in the Champions League this season as the Dutch club managed to upset the odds and reach the semi-finals.
De Ligt was a key part of the Ajax team that secured famous victories on the road at European superclubs Juventus and Real Madrid.
Ajax lost 3-2 to Tottenham in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final to miss out on a place in the showpiece against Liverpool FC.
De Ligt is already Van Dijk’s centre-half partner in the Netherlands set up following his exceptional performances at club level.
Unsurprisingly, the Ajax teenager is being linked with a host of top European clubs following his exploits in the 2018-19 Champions League campaign.
Former Manchester United defender Stam believes De Ligt would be a great addition to the Liverpool FC side to complement Van Dijk.
“It’s important that he’ll get playing time,” Stam told DAZN, as quoted by Metro.
“If you look at the squads: Barcelona, after losing to Liverpool (in the Champions League semi-final), probably wants to strengthen their squad, especially in defence, if you ask me.
“The question is how they are going to solve that problem.
“I think that Matthijs de Ligt would be a good fit though. It will be great to see how he performs against better players in a better league, not just every few weeks, but every weekend.
“The same goes for Liverpool. We all know who is their biggest defensive star – his Dutch colleague (Van Dijk) – the other players, Lovren and Matip, rotate quite a lot.”
Liverpool FC signed Van Dijk in a £75m deal from Southampton in the 2018 summer transfer window to make him the world’s most-expensive defender.
The Reds defender was voted as the PFA player of the year after Van Dijk helped Liverpool FC to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title.
