Noussair Mazraoui has agreed with Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand about one of his teammates amid a Golden Boy award claim.
When Manchester United announced the double signing of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui for a combined initial fee of just over £50 million, many questioned it.
While Mazraoui was known to be a reliable defender, his injury record raised a few concerns. However, he quickly dispelled this by putting in superb performances at right-back under Erik ten Hag, then as right centre-back under Rúben Amorim.
As for De Ligt, the main topic of discussion is why United had decided to commit to a player who had yet to live up to his immense potential.
After winning the Golden Boy award in 2018 at the age of 19, becoming the first defender in history to do so, and assuming the Ajax captaincy, he went on to experience mixed spells at both Juventus and Bayern Munich before joining United.
Mazraoui agrees with Ferdinand’s De Ligt assessment
After a debut season that saw good displays mixed in with a few subpar performances and an injury at the end of the season, De Ligt has started the 2025/26 campaign on fire.
He has been the only player to play 90 minutes in all 11 Premier League games under Amorim this season, with United legend Rio Ferdinand recently praising the defender’s aggressiveness, timing, and box defending as standout qualities.
Speaking to club media, Mazraoui agreed with the former United defender’s assessment, explaining that De Ligt is a player who can win a lot of duels while making excellent decisions.
“As a defender, he’s also really aggressive,” Mazraoui said. “He likes to be in the duels and win his duels. On the ball, he’s also really, really good on the ball. You see the Ajax school, of course, in his style of play.
“He makes really good decisions, with the ball and also without the ball, and he’s really, really vocal, which is really important for his position. So, you know, it’s always easier when you have somebody behind you, like telling you a little bit left, just a little bit right, to block a certain passing line.
“That’s how he is on the pitch and, outside the pitch, he is just relaxed, a relaxed guy. Really open and really funny. I think he’s a really good guy to be around. Yeah, I just love the guy.”
De Ligt finally back to his Golden Boy form
Furthermore, Mazraoui revealed that he constantly shares a little inside joke with the pair, as the Netherlands international is finally back to showing the world why he was awarded the Golden Boy award.
“I’m really, really proud of the performances he is putting up now,” Mazraoui continued. “I think he should stay like this and even improve more because I know he can be even better than this.
“He is still quite young, yeah, I think he even won the Golden Boy [award]. I said lately, for fun, also a little bit serious, that he is reaching his form of a Golden Boy again. I think he is getting into his prime at this point.”
While Amorim has been full of praise for De Ligt’s performances lately, the United head coach has also revealed that he feels the Dutchman is still playing a very safe brand of football and that he can become even better with an expanded passing range in the future.
“He is doing really well, really aggressive,” Amorim told the media after United’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham. “I think he has more quality with the ball than he is showing.
“He is still not wanting to make mistakes. Smart. But when we reach a very good point, our three centre-backs will control tempo and quality of game.”
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