Five clubs who could sign Matthijs de Ligt if he leaves Juventus

Matthijs de Ligt may only have joined Juventus in 2019, but his agent Mino Raiola has told Tuttosport that the Dutch centre-back might depart the Italian side in the summer of 2022. As much as the player has insisted that he is happy in Turin, his agent’s claim will have Europe’s top clubs on alert.

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When De Ligt hit the market in 2019, his stock was as high as could be after he captained Ajax to the semi-finals of the Champions League, aged just 19. After a couple of difficult years with Juventus, De Ligt might not be as in-demand as he was two years ago, but there would still be several clubs seriously interested if Juve were to look to sell.

Here, then, comes a look at five of the most likely landing spots for De Ligt if, as Raiola has suggested, he does move on from the Old Lady next summer.

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De Ligt to Chelsea?

Chelsea certainly have the funds to sign a player of De Ligt’s calibre, while they also have a need at centre-back. The European champions are so strong in almost every position, but they did want to upgrade in central defence in the most recent transfer market and that’s why they were targeting Sevilla’s Jules Kounde.

In the end, Kounde didn’t arrive. But, Chelsea are still on the lookout for options at centre-back and they’d surely be interested if De Ligt were to become available.

De Ligt to Real Madrid?

When De Ligt was on the move two years ago, Real Madrid weren’t really a factor in the race for his signature. Any interest from LaLiga was coming from Catalonia. The simple reason for this is that Real Madrid had Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane at the time and, by March of 2019, they had already announced an agreement to sign Eder Militao from Porto.

Now, though, Ramos and Varane have both departed and there is an obvious hole in the centre of Real Madrid’s defence. They were keeping the powder dry for the potential arrival of Kylian Mbappe last summer, but next year a centre-back could be more of a priority.

De Ligt to Bayern Munich?

Bayern Munich pulled out of the fight to sign De Ligt in 2019 quite early on, once they realised just how high a transfer fee Ajax were holding out for. But, there was interest in the player from Bavaria.

The player himself is an admirer of Bayern Munich and was even spotted taking a photo with the German club’s badge during his visit to the Allianz Arena with Ajax in the 2018/19 Champions League group stage.

De Ligt to Barcelona?

During the 2019 race to sign De Ligt, Barcelona started in pole position. As a club with a strong connection to Dutch football and as a club that had already secured the transfer of Frenkie de Jong, they assumed their offer would be too good to turn down. But, the young centre-back did turn them down.

Now, maybe De Ligt wishes he had opted for a club with a style better suited to his talents and Barcelona might be that club. However, as is the case with any Barcelona transfer rumour these days, finances would be the issue. There isn’t much money at the Catalan club and Juventus wouldn’t sell their young talent cheap.

De Ligt to Manchester City?

Many believe De Ligt would be a good fit for Manchester City stylistically, with former Ajax winger Bryan Roy recently discussing the possibility. To see Pep Guardiola working with the young Dutchman would be a special sight and that could be a challenge that the player relishes too.

Manchester City have the money to afford him, plus they have previously spent big money on improving their defence. Of Manchester City’s 25 most expensive transfers ever, 10 of them were for defenders. Perhaps De Ligt could be the latest.