Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau has revealed that the club were in for Matthijs De Ligt during the summer, however the Old Lady manage to beat the Blaugrana to the player’s signature due to him being able to earn a higher wage in Italy.
As per Football Italia, Grau has been speaking about De Ligt, stating that “We made him an offer, but he preferred to go to Juve, where Italian taxation allows him to earn a higher net salary.”
The report also notes that Juve offered a €12M-a-year deal with De Ligt in order to tempt him to Turin, with the player then completing his €75M move the club (fee as per The Guardian).
De Ligt has made a shaky start to life with the Italian giants, however this shouldn’t take away from the fact that the Dutchman is undoubtedly one of the best young prospects in world football.
The 19-year-old captained an Ajax side who won a domestic double last year, with the defender also playing a key role in his side’s run to the Champions League semi finals, a run that saw them knock his current club Juventus out along the way.
Given that Barca already have the likes of Umtiti, Pique and Lenglet to choose from at centre-back, it seems De Ligt may have struggle to cement himself into the club’s first team had he moved to the Nou Camp.
De Ligt has had no trouble in his attempts to do this at Juventus, something that’s mainly down to the fact that Giorgio Chiellini picked up a long-term injury earlier this year.
For now, it seems like De Ligt made the right decision in choosing Juve over Barca, however only time will tell how good a choice this ends up being…