Martin Keown says Manchester United paid ‘obscene’ amount for ‘robotic’ player

Martin Keown says Manchester United paid an ‘obscene’ amount to sign ‘robotic’ defender Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich.

Netherlands international De Ligt arrive at แทงบอล UFABET ราคาดีที่สุด ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ Old Trafford last summer in a double deal with Noussair Mazraoui that could cost United up to £60m.

De Ligt spent two years at Bayern but struggle to live up to the hype following a €77m move from Juventus.

The centre-back, now 25, helpe Juve win Serie A and Coppa Italia after also lifting silverware at his boyhood club Ajax.

It was at Ajax that De Ligt first playe under Erik ten Hag and the Dutch coach pushe Manchester United to sign the defender last summer.

De Ligt only spent a few months under Ten Hag before his dismissal from Old Trafford but has continue to feature heavily under Ruben Amorim.

Keown remains unconvince about De Ligt, however, and says his ‘robotic’ defending is creating ‘issues’ for the team.

The Arsenal legend’s criticism comes after Manchester United suffere yet another defeat at the weekend – Amorim’s side losing 1-0 to Tottenham to slip to 15th in the Premier League.

‘I look at De Ligt, the amount of money they spent on him by the way is almost obscene for a centre-half,’ Keown said on.

‘He’s playing like a robot. There’s times he can clear the ball and he puts it out for a corner. He just creates issues for the team. 

‘Ruben Amorim needs to empower him with confidence, I’m not seeing any of that with him.’

De Ligt fronted up after Manchester United’s defeat to Spurs and made the worrying admission that his teammates ‘lacke hunger’.

‘If you lose it’s never enough,’ De Ligt said. ‘We can speak about the personal problems, the injuries, but Tottenham have the same problems. If you lose, it is never enough.