Matthijs de Ligt’s agent compares him to ‘oil tanker’ and Game of Thrones character

Mino Raiola has been full of praise for the 20-year-old Juventus defender

Football agent Mino Raiola has backed Matthijs de Ligt to recover from a difficult start to his Juventus career, describing the 20-year-old defender as “an oil tanker” and comparing him to the Night’s Watch from HBO television show Game of Thrones.

The Netherlands international moved to Juventus from Ajax for £68m in the summer.

De Ligt endured a tough start to life in Italy with a series of inconsistent performances, but has improved in recent weeks and scored his second goal for the club when he netted in a 3-0 win over Fiorentina on Sunday.

And Raiola has backed De Ligt to get even better as Juventus push for a ninth consecutive Scudetto.

“Matthijs is becoming like the Night’s Watch, you can see him developing before your eyes,” he told Sport Voetbal Magazine, comparing the player to the warrior characters from Game of Thrones.

“I hear that he is struggling at Juventus, but I just see that Matthijs is developing.

“This is the first time he is at a top foreign club with a different culture. He was only used to the culture at Ajax.

“Matthijs is like an oil tanker, you can’t expect him to suddenly turn 90 degrees. He goes steadily. But, once he’s on course, he can’t be stopped.”

De Ligt has played in 17 of Juventus’ 22 Serie A matches so far this season.