Matthijs de Ligt reveals why he chose Juventus over Barcelona move

Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt has revealed he chose to join the Serie A side over Barcelona in order to continue his improvement as a player. De Ligt was targeted by a number of European clubs last summer, after his successful season with Dutch club Ajax. Barcelona, Juventus and PSG were in rush for the 20-year-old player. However, the Dutch defender decided to join Maurizio Sarri's side. Since his debut in Italy he has made 26 appearances and admits he still has a lot of things to learn at Juventus. Speaking on his choce, he told Ziggo Sport: "I had offers last summer from Juventus, PSG and Barcelona, so I studied the various options and at the end of the day concluded I could grow faster at Juve. They have a particular style and I knew being here would make me a more complete player. There are more eyes on you and people expect a great deal, all of which is new compared to my time at Ajax." De Ligt also talked about the difficulties he faced at the club and how the coach and the teammates helped him. "I think that I’ve done well in every match since the start of November and I am happy that the club has faith in me. I was on the bench for a little while and talked it over with the coach. I then had that problem with my shoulder and then a groin strain, so I couldn’t train. The coach told me very clearly: 'Calm down, we need you further along in the season and in your best shape, so there’s no rush.' I also had to learn the language, as at the start it was just me and Aaron Ramsey who couldn’t speak Italian. We both spoke English, so spent a lot of time together. Chiellini also speaks English and he helped me a great deal. It was tough at first, when we sat around the table and everyone spoke Italian, but I took lessons along with my girlfriend," he added.

Source: www.squawka.com

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