Can de Ligt repeat his Ajax miracle?

Matthijs De Ligt is convinced Manchester United could return to the top of the Premier League as early as next season - after all, it happened for him at Ajax six years ago.

Speaking on a special episode of BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, de Ligt explained that Ajax had one of the worst seasons in living memory in 2017-18 before miraculously bouncing back to win the league and cup double and reach the Champions League final the following year.

"The season we reached the semi-final with Ajax, everything was amazing, but what people forget is about the year before," De Ligt told Dion Dublin.

"We did not qualify for the Europe for the first time since the 1960s. We did not win the title - we lost against [PSV] Eindhoven in their stadium and they became Champions in this game. The fans were waiting for us outside the stadium, they were saying that we were horrible.

"We had one of the worst seasons from the last 30 years, after that we had the best season in 25 years. Football is a really strange sport that can change out of nowhere.

"Sometimes It is about finding the right formula. Currently we are not there yet, but I keep my hopes up that we will find it eventually."

Listen to De Ligt's full conversation with Dublin here