Barcelona have reportedly made a €60million bid to Ajax to seal the transfer of defender Matthijs de Ligt and hope they can wrap up the deal within the next month.
This is according to Sport, and it follows plenty of speculation surrounding the future of De Ligt, who looks one of the most exciting young players in the world.
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The 19-year-old has been immense for Ajax in the Eredivisie and Champions League this season, with Sport claiming his performance in the win over Real Madrid was a big moment in persuading Barca to launch their offer for him.
It remains to be seen if they can see off other competition for De Ligt’s signature, however, with Tuttosport recently claiming Juventus were planning talks over the Netherlands international, and listing Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain as other potential suitors.
Frenkie de Jong, announced.
Full story ? https://t.co/XRRql1NLyu #EnjoyDeJong
??— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 23, 2019
If Barcelona can bring in De Ligt alongside Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who was signed in January but won’t make his move to the Nou Camp until next season, it could be a game-changing double purchase to set them up for the next decade or more.
United will hope they can still be in the running, however, with De Ligt ideal to fix their unconvincing defence, which remains some way off the kind of quality possessed by main title contenders Manchester City and Liverpool.
If Man Utd are to close the gap next season, they’ll need a signing like De Ligt as an upgrade on the likes of Phil Jones and Eric Bailly.