Ajax wonderkid ‘dreamed’ of being Cristiano Ronaldo and even had his Manchester United kit

Matthijs de Ligt dreamed of being Cristiano Ronaldo when playing football as a boy and even had the superstar’s shirt. The 19-year-old is set to join Juventus after months of speculation about his future. He has been linked with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United. According to Sky Sports, Italian giants have won the race after De Ligt agreed on a five-year contract worth just under £210,000 a week. Speaking to Dutch magazine VI in May, De Ligt said of his future: “It all went quickly, I realise that sometimes. During the season, at the club and during competitions, you don’t really have the time to review everything as a player. But sometimes there are times when I realise that it is not normal. Like recently, when I had dinner with some childhood friends. “We came to the conclusion that I always wanted to be Cristiano Ronaldo when we were playing football in the garden. That was especially in his time when he played at Manchester United. My first football shirt also belonged to him from that time. That dinner was just after the meetings with Juventus, in which I had to fight duels with the same Ronaldo.”

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