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Barcelona: Top 5 potential successors to the ageing Gerard Piqué

By Chiranjib Ghosh

LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY - APRIL 28: Panagiotis Retsos of Leverkusen controls the ball during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart at BayArena on April 28, 2018 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY - APRIL 28: Panagiotis Retsos of Leverkusen controls the ball during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart at BayArena on April 28, 2018 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /
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AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – SEPTEMBER 15: Matthijs de Ligt of Ajax during the Dutch Eredivisie match between Ajax v FC Groningen at the Johan Cruijff Arena on September 15, 2018 in Amsterdam Netherlands (Photo by Soccrates/Getty Images)
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – SEPTEMBER 15: Matthijs de Ligt of Ajax during the Dutch Eredivisie match between Ajax v FC Groningen at the Johan Cruijff Arena on September 15, 2018 in Amsterdam Netherlands (Photo by Soccrates/Getty Images) /

1. Matthijs de Ligt

Matthijs de Ligt is nothing short of the best young centre-back in Europe. At the mere age of 19, he has already racked up 60 appearances for Ajax, and has made his international debut. In fact, he is the youngest player to debut for the Dutch senior side in the 21st century.

De Ligt was first called up to the first-team squad by former Ajax manager Peter Bosz in 2016, who handed him his senior debut against Willem II in the KNVB Cup. He made his first European appearance against Panathanaikos in the Europa League.

In his first season, he played a major part in Ajax’s Europa League campaign, and was a key figure in their run to the final, where they lost to Manchester United. But in the second season, De Ligt became a member of the first-team, driving club veteran Nick Viergever out of the club.

The 19-year old Dutch centre-back is very good in the air, and is a goalscoring threat from crosses. He has scored a total of 6 goals throughout his career. He is the second-youngest goalscorer for Ajax, behind club legend Clarence Seedorf. But De Ligt also makes tough challenges, which is clear considering that he has received 10 yellow cards over the course of his career.

Matthijs de Ligt has a lot of potential, but he knows that he cannot fully fulfill it at the Amsterdam Arena. Ajax have refused to negotiate for De Ligt, with the player signing a new contract in 2017. But considering the interest shown in him, Marc Overmars could soon be ready to negotiate.

Barcelona have previously shown interest in signing De Ligt, with Robert Fernández first identifying him as a top talent. Éric Abidal can follow up on that to negotiate terms with club and player to bring the youngster to the Camp Nou. But Barça cannot afford to be miserly here.

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