Barcelona Chief 'Knows What Will Happen' With Ajax Defender Matthijs de Ligt This Summer

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu claims that he knows where Ajax's Matthijs de Ligt will be playing his club football next season.

The 19-year-old centre-back has been at the centre of transfer speculation throughout the campaign as he looks to follow teammate Frenkie de Jong out of the exit door at the Amsterdam Arena this summer.

It is unknown which club de Ligt wants to join at the end of the season, but Barça's president has given the biggest hint yet that he could be moving to Catalonia next season, as he claimed to already know what the Dutchman's plans are for the end of the campaign.

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"There will be time to speak about him. Each year the club has an interest in making signings and this summer will be the same," Bartomeu told ESPN.

"De Ligt, like the other best players, is on the table. He is a great player and a great centre-back. I know what will happen with him but it's not the moment [to talk]."

Barcelona have already completed a €75m deal for his Ajax teammate de Jong and the midfielder will move to the club at the end of the season, having snubbed a financially better from Paris Saint-Germain to join the Blaugrana.

However, centre back de Ligt has been also attracting interest from the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus and a handful of clubs in the Premier League.

Thanks to their dealing in the past, Barcelona are expected to be given a slight discount on de Ligt's signature at the end of the season to steal the march on their European rivals.