In the past two days, the Catalan newspapers have discussed why Barcelona would prefer to sign Matthijs de Ligt over his Ajax teammate Frenkie de Jong as the Netherlands international is a priority target for the Blaugrana.
Any approach from the La Liga winners for the centre-back will not be easy as they will have to compete with the top clubs across the continent to secure the 19-year-old’s signature.
Sport takes a look at the situation in today’s edition of the Catalan newspaper, and it’s claimed that Manchester City are one of the clubs interested in the Eredivisie star.
De Ligt is managed by Mino Raiola and the super agent doesn’t share a good relationship with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Sport mentions this could halt any possibility of the Ajax defender joining the English champions next summer, despite them making the best offer so far.
Regardless of these claims, central defence doesn’t really seem like an area Guardiola needs to spend €60m+ on right now. That is unless there’s a longer terms plan to see if De Ligt could play in midfield.
