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What's the news?
According to reports, Barcelona and Ajax have an agreement over the fee for the highly-rated centre-back, Matthijs de Ligt.
In case you didn't know...
Matthijs de Ligt is one of the hottest properties in world football right now. The 19-year-old impressed everyone with his performances for Ajax in the Champions League and captained his side to a domestic double.
The centre-back is open to a move away from Amsterdam this summer, as he seeks a new challenge and every elite clubs, namely Barcelona, Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain and Juventus are looking to secure the signature of the highly-rated youngster.
The centre-back seemed destined to sign for the Blaugrana a month ago but failed to agree on the financial package proposed by the club. Seeing this as an opportunity, Manchester United stepped in with their own offer, which was way more significant than Barcelona's.
Paris Saint Germain and Juventus have also joined the race for the Dutchman as soon as he stalled the deal with the Blaugrana. The 19-year-old has said that he is yet to make a decision on his future yet and will think long and hard before choosing his next destination.
The heart of the matter
According to reports, Barcelona have agreed a €75 million fee with Ajax for the 19-year-old Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt. However, they will still have to persuade the defender to move to the Camp Nou this summer as major European clubs are also interested in signing him. The youngster is weighing up his options and said in a recent interview that he would have to assess whether this is the right time for him to move to Barcelona.
What next?
Barcelona might have agreed to a fee with Ajax but the difficult part of persuading the centre-back to come to the Camp Nou next season starts now. The Blaugrana have already made it clear that they are unwilling to offer as much as other clubs are offering for the Dutch centre-back.
