"I read that a club would not sign because my dad is fat"

Matthijs de Ligt was puzzled by the stories of the transfer circulating about him before his move to Juventus, including the one concerning Manchester United and fears for its weight.

The Dutch international has finalized his move to Juventus Thursday in a contract that could cost 85.5 million euros to Serie A champions.

De Ligt, 19, was one of the most wanted young players in the world following his outstanding performance as captain of Ajax, who won the Eredivisie and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

He was linked to a possible move to United until a story appeared in the Daily Mirror suggesting that a scout warned the Red Devils off to make an offer like De Ligt would likely to gain weight in getting older, like his father.

De Ligt says that such statements have left him truly baffledeven amid lingering speculation about where he would play football next season.

"Every day there was something new," he told Voetbal International. "Suddenly, even my father was too fat and that's why one of the clubs does not want me. That makes you go, "Go, man …" "

April 16, 2019

There was another rumor De Ligt rejected Paris Saint-Germain because he wanted a higher salary than Kylian Mbappe, something that he had previously told Algemeen Dagblad was "crazy".

"Money played no role at all in my choice for a new club, "he said. Everyone who knows me knows me. Everyone is entitled to his opinion and I will respect it, but some people have said things like that [PSG story] very easily."

De Ligt is the last high-level player to guarantee a significant cash transfer across the very successful agent Mino Raiola, who counts Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti among his clients.

"He has a lot of experience," said De Ligt about Raiola. "I think that there may be some negative image of him in Holland, but it's certainly not what I feel. "

"I think if you ask all his players if Mino does a good job for them, everyone would say yes. This is the most important thing. It's not about what others say about him, but what he can do for me. "