Barcelona and Juventus are interested in a number of players from each other’s squads.
With uncertainty in how the transfer market is going to work come the offseason, one avenue Barcelona are keen to explore is the one involving the exchange of players.
Over the past week or so, many reports have had the club in talks with Juventus about a number of different players including Arthur Melo and Sergi Roberto.
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According to Mundo Deportivo, one of those players happens to be rising star center-back, Matthijs de Ligt.
De Ligt is the one that got away for Josep Maria Bartomeu. The Catalans were chasing him all last season only to see him slip through their fingers and ultimately sign for Juventus.
The player himself said that one of the reasons he chose the Serie A champions over Barcelona is because he felt he would have more minutes in Turin.
However, this time around, De Ligt is much more receptive to joining Barcelona as now he believes he has a better chance of playing.
The club do not want to let go Arthur but they might be willing if it’s in a deal for the former Ajax man.
With Gerard Pique being 33 and Barcelona’s intention of selling Samuel Umtiti, they are going to need defenders and it’s apparent they’ve yet to give up hope of signing De Ligt down the road.
Juventus are unlikely to part ways as he hasn’t even at the club for one full season. He started off on the wrong foot but was starting to string together decent performances before the season came to a halt.
His signing seems nearly impossible given all that and the fact that Barcelona would rather not deal with his agent, Mino Raiola. They’re already planning on selling a number of players to reduce their wage bill and are not going to be able to offer too much more of what De Ligt is making at Juventus nor the agent fees that Raiola is going to demand.
They may not include Arthur in a trade but they might be willing to part ways with Sergi Roberto and another player. Stranger things have happened. But like they say, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.