Bayern Munich sign Matthijs de Ligt: Decoding his stats
Bayern Munich have completed the signing of Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus. As per BBC, he has joined for an astronomical fee of £65.6m. He had joined Juventus from Ajax back in 2019. Matthijs has signed a deal until 2027 with Bayern. He is the second-costliest player in Bayern's transfer history after the club paid £68m to Atletico Madrid for Lucas Hernandez in 2019.
Why does this story matter?
de Ligt always wanted Bayern after coming to know of the club's interest in him. The youngster was also wanted by Chelsea but he decided to choose Bayern. de Ligt will hope to showcase his strengths having secure a big money move. de Ligt becomes the second Dutchman to join Bayern this summer after Ryan Gravenberch.
de Ligt reacts after securing a move
"I'm very happy to become a player for this great club," said the player. "FC Bayern is one of the most successful clubs in Germany, one of the most successful clubs in Europe and in the world," he added. He also highlighted the genuine appreciation from the sporting management, the coach and the board right from the start, which convinced him to switch here.
117 appearances each for Ajax and Juve
de Ligt started his career with Ajax. He made 117 appearances across three seasons, scoring 13 goals. Across his three seasons at Juve, de Ligt made 117 appearances in all competitions, scoring eight goals. Notably, he has eight goals each in both Eredivisie and Serie A, having made 77 and 87 appearances respectively.
An elite company for de Ligt
As per Opta, de Ligt is now the fifth central defender after Mehdi Benatia, Robert Kovac, Lucio, and Jurgen Kohler to play professional league football for both Juventus and Bayern Munich.
Notable success in terms of trophies won
de Ligt won the Eredivisie with Ajax in 2018-19, besides the KNVB Cup as well. He was a runner-up with Ajax in 2016-17 Europa League. He won the 2019-20 Serie A title with Juve, besides the Coppa Italia in 2020-21 and Supercoppa Italiana in 2020.
Key numbers of de Ligt in Serie A 2021-22
As per Soccerment, de Ligt won 61.7% of his duels and completed 66.7% of his dribbles in the Serie A 2021-22 season. He also won 63.1% of his aerial duels and had a pass success of 88.9%. He also made 80 tackles plus interceptions for Juve in the Serie A last season. 10 of his 20 shots were on target.
