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Football Manager stories: Can Matthijs de Ligt transform Liverpool into domestic titans?

By Russell Hughes

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - FEBRUARY 13: Matthijs de Ligt of Ajax acknowledges the fans after the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Ajax and Real Madrid at Johan Cruyff Arena on February 13, 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - FEBRUARY 13: Matthijs de Ligt of Ajax acknowledges the fans after the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Ajax and Real Madrid at Johan Cruyff Arena on February 13, 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) /
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Matthijs-de-Ligt-season-two-stats-end /

Season two

Despite the overloaded of central defenders, de Ligt continued to pay a fairly important role for the Reds. He featured 32 times in all competitions for Liverpool – although Matip and van Dijk stilled played more games.

The Dutch youngster continued to grow in importance and started the Europa League final alongside van Dijk and was named man of the match as Klopp lifted his second European trophy in two years.

Mustafi was only picked 25 times, while Lovren brought up the rear at 14 appearances and ended the season transfer listed.

Despite finishing fifth in the league, Klopp did manage to bring two items of silverware to Anfield – the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Frankfurt and the FA Cup with a 3-0 victory against Watford.

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Matthijs-de-Ligt-2017-2018-PL-table-season-two-squad-end /

That ensured the team will be playing in the Champions League again, and as a mark of his new importance de Ligt’s  value continued to climb before resting at £43 million  – not bad for a 20-year-old with 11 national caps!

Strangey Nathaniel Clyne is experiencing a resurgence on Merseyside and played 26 times, while Allison and Mignolet split the goalkeeping duties.

Ajax hotshot Kaspar Dolberg was signed to provide cover for Robert Firmino and scored 10 goals in 29 appearances, while Spurs somehow forked out a small fortune to sign Alberto Moreno.

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