A Dutch journalist claims that a centre-back from Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion is “100%” better than Manchester United star Matthijs de Ligt.

Manchester United They paid around £185m in transfers in the summer and invested an initial fee of £43m to sign De Ligt from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

As the Dutch international progressed through the ranks at Ajax, he emerged as one of the best centre-backs in the world. His form with the Eredivisie giants earned him a move to Juventus, but he stagnated in Italy and struggled at Bayern Munich.

De Ligt He had a tough start to this campaign for Man Utd, but his form has improved in recent games alongside centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez.

The 25-year-old will likely play an important role under new coach Ruben Amorim as Jamie Carragher expects him to start between three defenders.

Carragher expects De Ligt to play in the middle of a back three with Leny Yoro (right) and Martínez (left) on either side of him.

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Explaining his decision to choose Alejandro Garnacho and Noussair Mazraoui as full-backs, he said: “I went to the preparation and almost chose an offensive full-back on one side (Mazraoui) and Garnacho on the other because when I look at their setup at Sporting, these “Players are asked to be very high up, like extremes.”

However, Dutch journalist Valentijn Driessen admitted he was more impressed with Brighton star Jan Paul van Hecke, who joined the Premier League side for around £1.8m from NAC Breda in 2020.

Van Hecke had loan spells at Heerenbeen and Blackburn Rovers, but has established himself as a regular for Brighton in the Premier League.

After making 39 appearances in all competitions last season, Van Hecke made his senior debut for Holland in September and Driessen believes he is “100%” better than De Ligt.

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Driessen said: “Liverpool were really outclassed in the first half.

“Brighton played really great. That Van Hecke… When you see him in preparation, how calm he remains… He did almost everything right.

“Yes, 100% (he is better than De Ligt). On the ball anyway. He doesn’t need fouls; he doesn’t do really stupid things. I thought Matthijs de Ligt was much better yesterday against Chelsea than in the previous games, but he made a big mistake just before the end.

“Literally. He slipped, which almost put Chelsea at 1-2. But otherwise he held up quite well. But I really liked Van Hecke, yes.”