Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt is ready to end the summer’s longest running transfer saga to date having now made a decision to sign for Juventus.
The Ajax captain has been courted by Europe’s leading clubs with Real Madrid, PSG, Barcelona and Manchester United all having registered an interest in the 19-year-old centre-back.
De Telegraaf and Sky Sport Italia transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio both claim that the Serie A giants Juve have won the race to sign the Netherlands international.
Juventus are willing to pay €70m to sign De Ligt and have offered the player a five-year deal worth €15-20m per campaign which would make him Serie A’s second highest earner, behind Cristiano Ronaldo who earns €30m-a-year.
Investing so heavily in De Ligt is likely to have further implications for United, with Paul Pogba’s preferred escape route now seemingly blocked.
The France international has publicly stated his desire to leave Old Trafford for a second time this summer window and had been keen on returning to Italy having departed three years ago to join United.
Real Madrid remain interested in signing Pogba, but Zinedine Zidane’s desire to bring the 26-year-old Frenchman to Santiago Bernabeu is not shared by other members of the Spanish club’s hierarchy.
Juventus have already signed Aaron Ramsey on a free transfer from Arsenal, and are said to be close to announcing the signing of Adrien Rabiot, on a free transfer.
