Matthijs de Ligt Says He Is 'Really Happy' with Choice to Make Juventus Transfer

Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt has said he is "very happy" with the decision he made to join the club in the summer.

The Dutch international left Ajax for the Italian champions this summer, although he was linked with a number of European football's biggest clubs after a stellar campaign.

In the early weeks of his Juventus career, the defender has struggled to hit top form. However, speaking to Tuttosport (h/t Chris Burton of Goal), De Ligt said he is happy with the move.

"There have been many changes but it is going well, I am really happy with the choice I made in the summer when I signed for Juventus," said the Netherlands star. "I am learning Italian. Both the language and the football, very different, compared to the Dutch one. I am very happy to be here."

De Ligt was speaking at FIFA's The Best awards on Monday. The young defender was named in the FIFPro Team of the Year for his performances last season along with his former Ajax team-mate Frenkie de Jong, who has since moved to Barcelona:

Also in the XI were De Ligt's Juventus and Netherlands team-mates Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk, respectively. Both players were also on the shortlist for the Best Men's Player prize, although they lost out to Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

De Ligt said if he did have a vote, he would have found it difficult to choose between Ronaldo and Van Dijk: "It is a great honour to be here. I was lucky enough to have played with both Van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo, but frankly I can't choose between the two.

Ronaldo did get a vote, as he is the Portugal captain. He was clearly impressed with performances of De Ligt this year, as the forward named his fellow Juventus player as his top pick. OddsChecker provided a breakdown of who all the big names selected as their top three:

De Ligt was crucial in Ajax making it to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last season, knocking out Juventus along the way. Unsurprisingly, a plethora of huge names were linked with the defender after his exceptional performances, including Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and the Bianconeri.

In the end, De Ligt opted for the move to Italy, where he will be tasked with being an eventual successor to the likes of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini.

After a tough debut against Napoli in a 4-3 win for Juventus, Italian football journalist Adam Digby called for patience when assessing the youngster:

Given he has been playing at such a high level for a number of years already, it is easy to forget that De Ligt is just 20 years old still.

All the indications early in his career have pointed towards him becoming a generational footballer. Having left Amsterdam for Turin in such a high-profile and lucrative transfer, a period of transition always felt likely before he kicked on again.