Manchester City have been backed by Juventus to make a move for their defender Matthijs de Ligt this summer, according to reports.
The Blues aren’t wasting any time in completing their transfer business, having already secured Erling Haaland up top and now close to securing Kalvin Phillips in midfield, but the one area of the pitch where the movement has been pretty quiet is in defence.
The 22-year-old is the only name who has made the headlines when it comes to a potential Etihad switch, with Pep Guardiola’s side previously understood to have been battling it out with Premier League rivals Manchester United for his signature, and another link to the former Ajax captain has now surfaced.
In a new article published by Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), it’s claimed that Juventus are ‘confident’ that City will attempt to sign De Ligt this transfer window.
The source states that the reason for this is because Guardiola has ‘never hidden his admiration’ for the centre-back, and that if Nathan Ake were to leave the club this summer, this could create ‘space to include’ the 6 foot 2 ace at the back.
Whether Ake is to stay in Manchester or not, De Ligt isn’t someone who City should be making a priority to sign at this moment in time, given his sizeable price tag.
The 38-cap international, who was once hailed a ‘complete’ player by his former Ajax teammate Dusan Tadic, is believed to have a whopping €120m (£103m) release clause in his contract at Juventus.
This isn’t a sum that the hierarchy should be coughing up for someone who they don’t consider a serious transfer target in comparison to the level of interest they held in their new signings, but this could definitely be a deal to watch in the future if
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