Barça Increasingly Confident Over Matthijs de Ligt Signing Despite Offers From European Rivals

Barcelona are becoming increasingly confident that Ajax star Matthijs de Ligt will sign on the dotted line at the Camp Nou following their meeting with the centre back in Amsterdam.

Director of football Éric Abidal held talks with the teenager earlier this week to discuss a future transfer from Ajax to Barcelona, with the Blaugrana looking to distance themselves from European giants Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus in the hunt for de Ligt's signature.

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During the meeting, Sport reveal that de Ligt was outspoken about how much game time he would get in Catalonia next season, due to the club already having an abundance of defensive talent in place.

However, Barcelona used summer signing Clément Lenglet as an example to assure de Ligt that game time would come his way. The former Sevilla star has made 14 appearances already this season, almost twice as many as World Cup winning defender Samuel Umtiti.

De Ligt is known to be excited about Barcelona's interest and he places the club ahead of the rest of his suitors, including La Liga rivals Real Madrid who are also interested in the Netherlands international.

Barcelona still have concerns over the long-term signing, but they are optimistic that they can get a deal over the line following their meeting in Amsterdam.

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De Ligt has had an outstanding rise to prominence over the last few years. He's been touted as the highest potential defender in the world for some time, but only recently are fans seeing the 19-year-old as an already established centre-back.