Having recently secured a highly lucrative move from Juventus to Bayern Munich, centre-back Matthijs de Ligt has claimed he has made a "step up" in doing so.
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De Ligt has enjoyed a meteoric rise in football so far, having started out at Ajax Amsterdam – becoming the team's youngest captain ever at 19 years old –before making his way to Juventus in what was supposed to be a continuation of his ascent but instead turned out to be a plateau of sorts.
Now three years removed from his arrival in Turin, the central defender finds himself at Bayern, where he hopes to recapture the form that made him so highly touted.
He has now spoken on what he feels is the difference between the Italian side and the German club, lauding the Bavarians' ambition to win the UEFA Champions League, and seemingly aiming a jab in his former employers' direction.
"For me, it is a step up in terms of team," De Ligt told Dutch publication NOS.
"Juventus is a very good team.
"I just think that Bayern has everything in terms of selection and ambition to win the Champions League.
"I had the feeling that it was just a little less at Juve."
When the 23-year-old first made the move to Germany, he admitted that going to Juventus felt like a step backwards, and the fact that he is a sporadic starter for his new team could be testimony to that.
De Ligt has started only four of Bayern's seven Bundesliga games this season, and was left on the bench for arguably their biggest match of the campaign so far, against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.
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The Leiderdorp native will be hoping his fortunes are not the same at international level as he looks to usurp Stefan de Vrij as Virgil van Dijk's centre-back partner for the Netherlands come the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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