Matthijs De Ligt furiously slammed as 'clunky' Man Utd star uses the gym 'too much'

Matthijs de Ligt has been told he has been in the gym 'too much' with the star being branded 'clunky'.

De Ligt in a £42million deal from . But the Dutchman has struggled to live up to his price tag in the opening part of the season.

Having been at fault in the last week, for the trip to Aston Villa on Sunday. He did have to come on at half-time to replace the injured though.

There were high hopes for De Ligt when he arrived from Bayern, with the 25-year-old expected to form a partnership with Lisandro Martinez. Instead, he has struggled badly and former title winner Chris Sutton believes that is down to his bodyshape.

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Sutton told the It's All Kicking Off podcast: "[He's] been in the gym too much. I mean, most people need to get in the gym. When he was at Ajax and he came to the fore, not only was he strong, but he was agile, he was mobile. He just looks clunky, doesn't he?"

Ten Hag played down the move to take De Ligt out of the starting line-up for the draw with Villa on Sunday. The United boss insisted the decision was merely down to rotation and praised De Ligt for his performance once he came on.

"We have loads of games. We have to rotate the team, the freshness, and I think it was a good decision today. I think the performances from Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans, they were very solid. But, also, I think Matthijs de Ligt came in at half-time and was very solid," Ten Hag said.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Matthijs de Ligt remain on the bench at Manchester United? .

"Of course, you take everything into consideration, but [there were] more reasons. And Jonny Evans, I didn’t know if he could come to an end and I [would] have to sub again. So, yeah, [it's] always [about] consideration. One for one, for me, was the best idea.

"This is our fourth clean sheet of this season and that tells something about the control we have in and out of possession, we are organised very well. In many games so far we create loads of chances."

De Ligt has been facing increasing criticism for his performances despite Ten Hag's support. legend called out the struggling United star for his poor positioning in the defeat to .

"I've noticed this with De Ligt and a lot of centre-backs, I don't understand why they don't fill the space and come over. The striker just behind him has got nothing to do with him, that is Martinez's job," Carragher told Sky Sports after that game

"It comes from his starting position. I can talk about United's midfield, running at the back four. But where's De Ligt? The right-back's come up and look where De Ligt is. You've got to get over. So in every situation in the first-half, De Ligt, a player they brought in for huge money, is completely out of position."

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