Barcelona have confirmed they are interested in the signature of Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax.
The Catalan club only recently completed the signing of Frenkie de Jong from the Amsterdammers for £65m including potential add-ons.
Is De Ligt to Barca a formality? Four things to know…
- The central defender made his debut for Ajax in 2016, and became club captain in 2018.
- The 19-year-old won the Golden Boy award in 2018 for best player under the age of 21 in Europe.
- Despite not being 20, he has already racked up 97 appearances for Ajax and a further 13 for the national team.
- De Ligt would be seen as a natural replacement for the ageing Gerard Pique.
And Barcelona are now thought to be interested in signing the £70m-rated De Ligt, who only consistently broke into the Ajax starting XI following the sale of Davinson Sanchez to Tottenham in 2017.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has confirmed the club are keeping tabs on the player, telling reporters (via Football Espana): “We have followed de Ligt for a while. It’s true he’s a player we like, but Barca also have other important players in the squad.
“We will look at more things from March or April. We’re delighted to watch him play and admire him, but there’s nothing more at the moment.”
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Barcelona’s most recent big transfers
Over the past few seasons, Barcelona have been preparing for life after a number of the players still at the club – when Pep Guardiola was at the helm – pass into retirement or on to other clubs.
Xavi left in 2015 while Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano followed suit in 2018. At 32, Barca must also think about life after Gerard Pique as well.
As such, the Catalans have signed the likes of Ousmane Dembele for £96.8m, potentially rising to £135.5m, Philippe Coutinho for £142m and Frenkie de Jong for £75m.
Other players such as Arthur, Paulinho and Vidal have come for fees below £45m.
The post Barcelona confirm interest in De Jong’s £70m-rated teammate appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka News http://bit.ly/2DKfxOa
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