As Matthijs de Ligt sought a fresh start this summer, he was attracted by the idea of a reunion with the coach who gave him the platform to launch his career and made him captain of Ajax while still in his teens.
De Ligt looked like a world-beater when he left Amsterdam to join Juventus in 2019, but five years and two clubs later, the doubts were beginning to grow.
To try and get back to the player he was at 17, 18 and 19, he got back together with Erik ten Hag, his coach for 70 games at Ajax.
They managed only a dozen more at Manchester United before Ten Hag paid the price for a prolonged spell of poor form, but it might just have been enough to get De Ligt back on the right track.
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