Former Bolton Wanderers veteran David Wheater took a cheeky swipe at Matthijs de Ligt and claimed he was better than the Manchester United defender despite being ’20kg overweight’.
De Ligt joined the Red Devils in a £60million deal from Bayern Munich as he became the latest ex-Ajax player to reunite with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
However, the Dutch defender has endured a tough start to life since joining United and had a difficult evening in the club’s 3-3 draw against Porto on Thursday in which Erik ten Hag’s side blew a 2-0 lead.
De Ligt was partially at fault for two of Porto’s goals, which were both scored by Samu Omorodion.
The centre-back failed to clear the ball and was beaten by Omorodion to a cross at the near post for the first goal and could not handle the Porto striker’s movement for the second.
Matthijs de Ligt was culpable for two of Porto’s three goals against Man United on Thursday
The former Bayern and Juventus defender was brought in by Erik ten Hag for a big fee
The summer recruit struggled to deal with electric Porto forward Samu Omorodion
De Ligt and his centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez were replaced in the 79th minute by Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire, who scored the equaliser to salvage a point.
Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves told TNT Sports De Ligt ‘struggled really badly’ and that Omorodion gave him ‘absolute nightmares’.
Wheater, who made over 100 Premier League appearances for Bolton and Middlesbrough, is now the latest to stick the boot into De Ligt after his display against Porto.
‘I’m better than De Ligt at this very moment and Im (sic) 20kg overweight and a dodgy ankle,’ Wheater posted on X.
A Bolton fan cheekily commented underneath that Wheater was overweight in his prime, but the 37-year-old had the perfect response.
‘Didn’t have to move cos (sic) I was always in the right position,’ Wheater said.
De Ligt’s struggles aren’t limited to his display against Porto on Thursday.
The former Juventus star was savaged by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher for his questionable positioning during United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham last Sunday.
Former Bolton defender Wheater (right) says he’s better than De Ligt despite being overweight
Wheater didn’t mince his words when it came to De Ligt’s performance against Porto
De Ligt’s recent performances have come under criticism, including from Jamie Carragher
For Tottenham’s first goal, centre-back Micky van de Ven went virtually unchallenged from his own half down United’s right side and into their box before he squared the ball across for Brennan Johnson to tap into an empty net.
Spurs forward Timo Werner also had plenty of joy by exploiting the vast space created by the large gap between De Light and United right-back Noussair Mazraoui.
When analysing the game on Monday Night Football, Carragher tore into De Ligt.
‘United’s rest defence is awful, it always has been behind the ball when they lose possession,’ Carragher said.
‘But where’s De Ligt? In every situation in that first half, two massive chances and the goal, De Ligt, a player they brought in for huge money, is completely out of position all the time.
‘So he ends up having to go flying into challenges and then you leave yourself in a situation where you can get yellow cards and red cards.’
De Ligt will need to avoid a similar performance should he retain his spot in United’s line-up as they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday.