A Dutch journalist claims a centre-back at Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion is “100%” better than Manchester United star Matthijs de Ligt.
Man Utd paid around £185m on signings in the summer and they invested an initial fee of £43m to sign De Ligt from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
As the Netherlands international progressed through the ranks at Ajax, he was tipped to become one of the best centre-backs in the world. His form for the Eredivisie giants earned him a move to Juventus, but he stagnated in Italy and struggled at Bayern Munich.
De Ligt endured a difficult start to this campaign for Man Utd, but his form has picked up in recent games alongside centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez.
The 25-year-old will likely play a big part under new head coach Ruben Amorim as Jamie Carragher expects him to start in a back three.
Carragher expects De Ligt to play in the middle of a back three with Leny Yoro (right) and Martinez (left) at either side of him.
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Explaining his decision to pick Alejandro Garnacho and Noussair Mazraoui as wing-backs, he said: “I go to the setup and I’ve almost gone for one attacking full-back on one side [Mazraoui] and Garnacho on the other because when you look at his set-up at Sporting, these players are asked to be really high like wingers.”
However, Dutch journalist Valentijn Driessen has admitted he’s been more impressed with Brighton star Jan Paul van Hecke, who joined the Premier League side for around £1.8m from NAC Breda in 2020.
Van Hecke has had loan spells at Heerenbeen and Blackburn Rovers but has established himself as a regular for Brighton in the Premier League.
After making 39 appearances across all competitions last season, Van Hecke made his senior debut for the Netherlands in September and Driessen reckons he’s “100%” better than De Ligt.
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Driessen said: “Liverpool were really outplayed in the first half.
“Brighton played really great. That Van Hecke… When you see him in the build-up, how calm he remains… He did almost everything right.
“Yes, 100% (he’s better than De Ligt). On the ball anyway. He doesn’t need any fouls; he doesn’t do really stupid things. I thought Matthijs de Ligt was a lot better yesterday against Chelsea than in the previous matches, but he did make a huge mistake just before the end.
“Literally. He slipped, which almost put Chelsea at 1-2. But for the rest he held his own quite well. But I really liked Van Hecke, yes.”
