Barcelona boss Xavi ‘makes Juventus defender and Chelsea target Matthijs de Ligt a summer priority’ after agent Mino Raiola revealed his client is ‘ready for a new step’
- Barcelona are reportedly targeting a summer move for defender Matthijs de Ligt
- The 22-year-old has been a key figure for the Serie A giants Juventus this season
- His agent Mino Raiola revealed centre back is ‘ready for a new step’ next month
Barcelona are reportedly targeting a summer move for Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt.
The 22-year-old has been a key figure for the Serie A giants this season, turning out 20 times for Max Allegri’s side, but his agent revealed he is ‘ready for a new step’ earlier this month.
And Barcelona boss Xavi is keen on swooping for the Holland international, who has a £105million release clause, at the end of the season, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Barcelona boss Xavi (R) is reportedly keen on swooping for Matthijs de Ligt (L) in the summer
The report claims that the cash-strapped giants will wait until the summer transfer window as they look to get wages off the books next month.
The Catalan giants find themselves in a financial mess after racking up over £1billion of debt, partly due to the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Barcelona signed Manchester City forward Ferran Torres for £55million this week, with attacking reinforcements the priority following Sergio Aguero’s retirement.
Mino Raiola represents De Ligt, and has claimed his client is ready to leave Juventus
However, the Spanish outfit must offload stars to keep them within LaLiga’s salary cap limit and to improve their situation to continue to rebuild.
Juventus signed De Ligt on a five-year deal for £67.8m in July, 2019 after he starred for Ajax. He won the Golden Boy award the previous year and helped the Dutch side reach the Champions League semi-finals in the 2018-19 season.
De Ligt has struggled for form at times and suffered injury setbacks during his spell in Turin, while Juve are currently well off the pace in Serie A.
His agent Mino Raiola opened the door to a fresh challenge recently with Chelsea also linked with the centre back.
‘(De Ligt) is ready for a new step… he thinks that too,’ he told Dutch newspaper NRC.
Barcelona completed the £55million signing of Ferran Torres from Manchester City this week
