Matthijs de Ligt verdict on Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus exit and his future amid Man United links

02.03.2022 - 07:43 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt has opened up on his increased game time at the Italian club, and how they're coping without Cristiano Ronaldo, following an unsettled period for him and the Old Lady this season.

Manchester United brought Ronaldo back to Old Trafford in the summer after the Portuguese forward had helped Juve to two Serie A titles in his first two seasons, before coming up short to 2020/21 Scudetto winners Inter in his third. Ronaldo voiced his desire to leave Turin in the summer and United pounced.

The 2021/22 campaign began poorly for Juventus again, though they've displayed improved form of late and are back into the top four. And De Ligt believes new signing Dusan Vlahovic has been a big reason behind that improvement.

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The Serbian striker arrived from Fiorentina in the January window, taking up Ronaldo's old mantle as the main Juve centre forward, and also his old No.7 shirt. De Ligt admitted Juve found it tough to fill the chasm left by Ronaldo — until now.

“We lost Cristiano Ronaldo late in the summer and of course, we lost 30 goals with that," he told Dutch media outlet Rondo.

"Because it was so late [in the summer window] we couldn’t get someone like Dusan Vlahovic back right away. We certainly missed that in the beginning.

“When I played against him [Vlahovic], I already noticed how strong and technically good he was. And what particularly appealed to me is that he is so driven to score a goal; he almost scolded teammates when he didn’t get the ball. You need an attacker like that up front.”

De Ligt joined Juventus in the summer of 2019 to great fanfare, and with a £67.5m price tag, from Ajax.