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.
The Premier League winners highly value the player’s defensive qualities, and ability to play out from the back, and are the club who have made the highest bid for the Dutchman so far. The report says Manchester City have tabled an offer of €60m, but that may not be sufficient for them to seal the deal. 
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.
