From tennis player to €85m star: How De Ligt proved his youth coaches wrong
Karan Tejwani
- Updated: 19 Jul 2022 18:41 BST
- 4 min read
In 2017, after Ajax’s Europa League semi-final win over Lyon, a 17-year-old Matthijs de Ligt went over to the travelling Ajax support sat in the away end of the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.
Ajax had reached their first European final in 21 years. De Ligt, wearing number 36, a number normally associated with emerging youth players like him, went over to thank the fans, who went through a roller coaster of emotions that evening. He led them into a famous chant, usually sung by supporters’ groups F-side and VAK410.
De Ligt: “Wonen daar ook Superjoden?” (Do Super Jews live there too?)
Supporters: “Ja daar wonen Superjoden!” (Yes, there are Super Jews!)
De Ligt: “Vinden Joden voetbal fijn?” (Do Jews like football?)
Supporters: “Als ze maar voor Ajax zijn!” (As long as they support Ajax!)
Both: “Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Amsterdam!”
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It was brief, but it told plenty about him.
As the video went viral, fans from around the world praised the defender for his level-headedness throughout the tournament, including the final, where he was arguably Ajax’s best player despite their defeat to Manchester United, and cited him as a future captain of the club.
Fast forward two years, and he was indeed their captain.
De Ligt, now 19 and wearing number 4, a number more associated with first-team players, was leading this young Ajax side into the Champions League and he held the armband ahead of some of the more experienced members of the side, including Daley Blind.
The teenager was seen as the model professional and an example of what a De Toekomst graduate should be like.
De Ligt, who previously favoured tennis over football, joined Ajax as a nine-year-old boy, despite concerns over his physique, but it was his ball-playing abilities that won scouts over.
🔴⚪️⚫️ 17 year-old Matthijs de Ligt dictating the chants of the travelling Ajax support. ⁰⁰
Born leader. pic.twitter.com/tnaKZqr0jV— COPA90 (@Copa90) June 17, 2022
At 15, he found his place in defence, having previously played in midfield. Influenced at the club by Jaap Stam and Frank de Boer, who were there amongst the coaching staff when De Ligt was growing up, he had the right people around him to help him improve as a footballer.
His growth was rapid, playing in age groups above his age and constantly progressing, and it came as no surprise to those at the club that he was playing in a continental final at 17, in his first season in professional football.
“It’s really nice,” he once told CNN about his relationship with the club’s supporters.
“I was a fan before when I was younger, so I watched a lot of games and I was always singing in the crowd and shouting when the referee made a mistake or something, you know?
“And now to play in the [Johan Cruyff] Arena, to be captain of this team, is something else, a dream … I dreamed of becoming Ajax captain, but more like at the age of 24 or 25, to be honest. That it came so soon is really special.”
This was an extract from Glorious Reinvention: The Rebirth of Ajax Amsterdam, a book by Karan Tejwani looking at Ajax in the 21st century, which was released in April 2022 by Pitch Publishing.
