Report: Matthijs de Ligt Set to Complete Record Move to Juventus
Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt will soon complete his blockbuster move to Juventus, despite Barcelona making one final attempt to recruit the Dutchman.
The Blaugrana have been chasing De Ligt for months but found themselves falling well behind Juventus in the race for his signature, with the Serie A champions prepared to better Barcelona's contract offer.
Juventus appear close to sealing the deal, with BBC Sport claiming De Ligt will fly to Turin on Tuesday to complete the move, which is worth around £67.5m.
The 19-year-old, who captained Ajax to the Champions League semi final last season, opted to reject interest from Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United in order to finalise a switch to Maurizio Sarri's side.
In fact, Barcelona decided to make a late appeal to De Ligt. Mundo Deportivo claim club officials were prepared to fly to Amsterdam to plead with the defender, while they even reached out to agent Mino Raiola to try and negotiate a late deal.
However, Raiola simply brought up Juventus' huge contract offer, insisting that, whilst they were happy to meet with Barcelona, the club needed to at least match the terms if they were to have any hope of convincing De Ligt to reject the Bianconeri.
The Serie A giants are believed to have offered De Ligt up to €10m per season, whilst they will also pay €11m in agency fees, and Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu was completely unwilling to match such an offer.
He believes a 19-year-old with such little experience in a top league should not be demanding the kind of money Juventus have agreed to pay, and he will instead look to pursue other targets.
As a result, De Ligt will now head to Juventus to finalize the deal, which will make him one of the most expensive defenders of all time.
