Southampton loanee Wesley Hoedt believes that Matthijs de Ligt struggling to settle in at Juventus proves that it is not easy to play football in Italy.
Dutch international De Ligt joining the Italian champions from Ajax for a fee in the region of £67.5m was one of the biggest transfers of the summer this term.
However, the 20-year-old has had a testing start to his life at Turin. The centre-back is yet to hit the form that he enjoyed at Ajax and has remained as an unused substitute in two of five Serie A games this season.
De Ligt struggling to settle in at Juventus indicates that playing in Italy is not easy, Southampton's Hoedt, who is currently on loan at Royal Antwerp, believes.
The 25-year-old, who joined Southampton from Italian side Lazio, feels that a defender gets the best training in Italy, but De Ligt's experience shows playing in the country is not an easy task.
"You get the best training as a defender in Italy", Hoedt told Sport/Voetbalmagazine.
"When I went there, they said yes, yes, 'Italy is still beautiful but not like it used to be'.
"Now De Ligt, a mega-talented player, is having a hard time indicates that playing football in Italy is not easy."
Hoedt also explained how German legend Miroslav Klose taught him how he shook off defenders during his time at Lazio.
"For example, Klose taught me how he got rid of opponents", Hoedt said.
"A lot of defenders hold on to you sneakily and he used his knuckles to hit them hard, without the referee seeing it.
"I understood why he did it because you can't do anything else.
"Now that is no longer possible because of VAR, but then those were the tricks of a champion."
Hoedt is currently on loan at Belgian club Antwerp from Southampton and has made two appearances for the club so far.
