Matthijs De Ligt ‘Approaches And, Indeed Even Surpasses, Pavel Nedved,’ Says Mino Raiola

Super agent Mino Raiola has made a bold comparison between Matthijs de Ligt and Pavel Nedved ahead of his stunning move to Juventus.

The Ajax captain, 19, arrived in Turin on Tuesday for his medical ahead of his £67.5m move to the Italian champions.

But Raiola, 51, believes that De Ligt has everything it takes to be in the same bracket as Juventus legend Nedved, 46.

"It's not a question of who wanted him most, but Juve are the best team for him," the Italian-born Dutch agent said (via Football Italia).

"It's important for a defender to come to Italy. He can learn to become the best in the world here.

"This step is necessary for his career. Certainly, he's the best young defender. After that, he only needs a bit of time to show that he's the best on a different level.

"In terms of work and mentality, he approaches and, indeed even surpasses, Nedved. He reminds me of [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] for his ambition.

"It's always good to play alongside great champions like [Leonardo] Bonucci. As for whether Ronaldo told him to join Juve, you have to ask him. I don't know.

"The decision to join Juve was a considered one. It wasn't made in just a day. It was a long process."

Nedved, who was appointed to the Juventus board of directors after his playing career, won two Serie A titles and two Supercoppa Italianas during his time with the Old Lady.

The ex-midfielder, 46, remained with the club when they were demoted to Serie B following the Italian match-fixing scandal and helped them to secure promotion back to Serie A.

De Ligt, who was previously linked with Manchester United, Barcelona and Liverpool, captained Ajax to the Eredivisie trophy and the Dutch Cup last season.

French newspaper L'Equipe named the Dutch centre-back the best under-20 player in the world.

And the Netherlands international was named the third most valuable under-21 player behind Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Agree or disagree with Raiola?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Football News, Matthijs de Ligt, Football, Serie A, Eredivisie, Ajax, old lady, Mino Raiola, Juventus

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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