The front page of Catalan newspaper Sport claims Barcelona met Matthijs de Ligt after being granted permission from Ajax.
The La Liga winners’ technical secretary, Eric Abidal, and his assistant Ramon Planes, met the centre-back and his agent Mino Raiola to convince him about their club’s sporting project.
His form for the Netherlands and the Eredivisie club has seen him draw a lot of attention and the Blaugrana are aware it will not be an easy task for them to seal the deal.
Ernesto Valverde already has the services of Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, summer signing Clement Lenglet and Thomas Vermaelen as the four first choice centre-backs, with the latter’s contract at Camp Nou set to expire after this season.
His concern with the La Liga winners is whether he can be a regular starter for them, but they are unwilling to promise him that he will start games right away.
The Dutchman is excited by Barcelona’s interest and is ready to turn down better economic offers from elsewhere to play for the Spanish champions.
The report mentions that PSG, Juventus and Real Madrid are also interested in the player, who is expected to make a decision on his future in the first few months of 2019.
Barcelona are of the belief the meeting was positive and the sporting leaders are optimistic that De Ligt will join them as they view him as a player for the present and future.
