According to recent reports from Calciomercato, Manchester City have started talks with one of football’s super-agent Mino Raiola for this young defender client, who is valued at around 67 million pounds by his current club.
The player in question is none other than Juventus’s Matthijs de Ligt.
However, Manchester City is not the only club the Dutchman has been offered to. Other clubs include the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona, who Manchester City are ready to battle with for the 22-year old.
De Ligt signed for Italian giants Juventus in a mega deal worth £67.5m back in the summer of 2019. Since then, he’s gone on to become a regular in Turin and is regarded as one of the best young defenders in the world of football.
Although the former Ajax captain reportedly has no issues at Juventus, Mino Raiola is said to view the situation differently, since he is not entirely happy with how Matthijis’ career has panned out in Turin.
Juventus however are ‘not willing to grant discounts’ for De Ligt, and any club looking to prise him away from Turin will have to either pay €150m as per his release clause or at least the 67.5 million pounds Juventus paid for him in 2019.
However, the need for another defender at Etihad is not clear yet. Ayermic Laporte has claimed his spot back at Manchester City and is no more linked with a move away from the club, and even though John Stones is linked to Newcastle United, the chances of that deal happening look bleak.
So De Ligt looks like an unnecessary lavish buy and if Manchester City does have to pay the reported 150 million pounds for the Dutch international, the deal does not seem worth it at all.
What do you think Pep Guardiola and Manchester City do in this situation?