Tottenham Hotspur interested in signing wantaway Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt ahead of January transfer window
According to the journalist Ekrem Konur (h/t ESPN), Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing wantaway Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt ahead of the January transfer window. He is one of the most coveted young defenders in world football after making a name for himself at a young age in the Netherlands.
Mino Raiola recently revealed that the 22-year-old has called it a day at the Allianz Stadium and is eyeing a move elsewhere. Raiola represents the Dutchman and is a big name in the transfer market. Dealing with him also has his fair share of potential issues, as witnessed by Manchester United’s ordeal with Paul Pogba.
De Ligt was one of the big names that spearheaded Ajax’s famous run in the Champions League 2018/19 Champions League season. But it was brought to an end by a hattrick by Lucas Moura in an incredible comeback that sent Spurs to the final against Liverpool.
Juve eventually bought the youngster after paying £67.5million in transfer fees in 2019. He has played 95 matches since then and has scored six goals with two assists alongside it. This season, he has featured in 20 games across all competitions and has helped his team to ten clean sheets in the process.
The Dutch international has a release clause of £130million in his contract, which is an eye-watering amount to pay even for the rich teams. It remains to be seen what stance Juve take in all of this considering they have spent a fair amount of money on the Dutch international.
Already one of the top defenders in Italy, he is yet to reach his full potential and Antonio Conte could use that to his advantage and get the best out of him. Juventus are also a team that Conte and Favio Paratici know well about, considering they both worked there earlier in their careers.
We have shown improvements on the defensive side of our play, but we are far from perfect. Joe Rodon is not being preferred, Cristian Romero is battling fitness issues, and an injury or suspension to any one of our current senior central defenders could seriously question the depth of our options in that position.
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Since Conte uses a three-at-the-back system, it would be wise to possess a healthy availability of options there. Moreover, De Ligt has already played alongside legends of the game such as Virgil van Dijk, Giorgio Chiellini, and Leonardo Bonucci. You can’t do that unless you have talent, and the Netherlands international would bring a considerable amount of that at N17 were he to sign for us.