Matthijs de Ligt is a center-back by trade. So when Manchester United’s club media asked him to name the three players who shaped his career the most, you’d probably guess some elite defenders. Jaap Stam, maybe. Rio Ferdinand. Someone who spent a career clearing balls off the line.
Instead, de Ligt went the other way entirely. He named Cristiano Ronaldo, Christian Eriksen, and Harry Kane. Three attackers. Two of them former teammates. None of them defenders.
And honestly? It makes more sense once he explains it.
De Ligt has been sidelined since November with a back injury, but he’s been talking to United’s in-house media while working his way back. The hope is he returns early in the 2026/27 season, though the team hasn’t confirmed a specific timeline. Michael Carrick is the new head coach now, and de Ligt hasn’t played a minute for him yet. That should change soon enough.
But back to the influences.
Ronaldo was the first idol
De Ligt was seven or eight when Manchester United won the Champions League in 2008. That was the Ronaldo show. The stepovers. The free kicks. The swagger.
“He had this style that everybody wanted to copy,” de Ligt said. “So yeah, probably he would be one of my first idols.”
They later played together at Juventus, sharing the pitch 67 times. That’s the kind of full-circle moment most guys only get in video games.
Eriksen was the guy he tried to be
This one is weird because de Ligt is a defender and Eriksen is a playmaker. But de Ligt started out in midfield as a kid. And when Eriksen broke through at Ajax, people were already calling him the biggest talent to come through in years.
“I was a midfielder also in the youth, and he was playing exactly in my position,” de Ligt said. “So he was really, at that time, an example of one of the players that I really looked up to.”
He didn’t just watch from afar. They ended up teammates at Old Trafford, which de Ligt called “funny” given how much he looked up to Eriksen as a kid. It’s a small world when you’re a professional footballer.
Kane left an impression in just one season
De Ligt and Harry Kane spent one season together at Bayern Munich. That was enough.
“He made a big impression on me. The way he worked, how good he was, how consistent he was in scoring goals,” de Ligt said. “With Harry, it’s just like, every shot, there’s an idea behind it.”
De Ligt called Kane a “complete striker” and pointed out that his playmaking is just as good as his finishing. Which is true. Kane drops deep, sprays passes, hits 30-yard bombs, finishes with his head. There’s not much he can’t do.
The through line here is that de Ligt values intelligence and professionalism in attackers, not just defensive instincts in fellow backs. And he’s probably right to. If you’re a defender, knowing how elite attackers think is a weapon. He’s been studying them his whole career.
Including when he was just a kid in Amsterdam watching Eriksen run a game from midfield. It all comes back around eventually.
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