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Lionel Messi urges Barcelona to close in on Europe’s hot property

By Atharva Khadilkar

TOPSHOT - Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring during the Spanish Copa del Rey (King's Cup) quarter final second leg football match FC Barcelona vs Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on January 26, 2017. / AFP / LLUIS GENE (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring during the Spanish Copa del Rey (King's Cup) quarter final second leg football match FC Barcelona vs Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on January 26, 2017. / AFP / LLUIS GENE (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona have been urged to complete their transfer for Matthijs de Ligt at the earliest by Lionel Messi amid interest from other European clubs.

Barcelona’s defence miserably let them down towards the final stretch of the season. Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet would be afforded rests prior to crucial matches in the business end thereby giving the likes of Thomas Vermaelen, Jean-Clair Todibo and Samuel Umtiti their chances in the heart of the Catalans’ backline. But unfortunately, neither of the three have impressed.

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Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti are facing the axe once the transfer window opens, while Todibo could head out for some minutes on loan, preferably at a Spanish outlet. The Blaugrana needs cover at the back as Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet would not be sufficient, so Matthijs de Ligt has been on their radar.

Earlier, it looked like Barcelona would breeze past the likes of Manchester City, Juventus and Bayern Munich to his signing, but de Ligt’s move has been complicated and allowed Manchester United as well as Real Madrid to enter back into the fray. Lionel Messi does not want his club to lose out on a prospect as bright as de Ligt and has asked the Catalans to pursue a move for him as soon as possible, according to Sportskeeda.

Ajax Amsterdam have conceded to the fact that they will not be able to keep hold of their captain and so the Spanish champions have the perfect opportunity to pounce with 80 million euros of money as transfer sum. The Catalans’ signing of de Ligt would be a massive statement for them, but an even bigger blow for Real Madrid who will have to dig deep into their pockets to gradually replace Sergio Ramos.

However, signing Matthijs de Ligt is not as easy as it seems because of the worldwide transfer ban that has been imposed on his agent Mino Raiola. Also, his exorbitant wage demands are not something that have satisfied the Camp Nou outfit. Nevertheless, they should satisfy de Ligt’s salary demands given his quality or be prepared to spend in excess of 100 million euros for others like Harry Maguire, Kalidou Koulibaly or Milan Skriniar.

Next. Real Madrid's proposed transfer is awful for Barca. dark

Do you think Matthijs de Ligt’s wage demands are too high for Barcelona to satisfy?

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