The Catalan media have long been convinced that Matthijs De Ligt, and Frenkie de Jong for that matter, are very eager to join Barcelona.
Sure, they may bring other clubs into the competition and talk up interest from Manchester City and PSG, among others, but so much of the time it feels forced.
If there’s no competition then Barcelona can’t be the great winners, and if the price goes up higher than Barca ever wanted then there has to be someone to blame other than the club’s own negotiating tactics.
Marca believe this is a message to Pep Guardiola Manchester City, and it pushes their chances further back, even if the claims of interest have been genuine.
De Ligt, it’s explained, ‘speaks with knowledge’ because he’s visited Barcelona several times, including as a high profile tourist in the summer… which all seemed a little wink-wink nudge-nudge.
