Cristiano Ronaldo prohibits Barcelona target from joining them
One of the former Real Madrid players has handed a major transfer setback to Barcelona, who are eyeing a huge revamp this summer.
Barcelona were left in despair after their prime target from last summer, Matthijs de Ligt, opted to sign up with Juventus in a quick twist in proceedings. The Catalans were not able to meet financial demands of Ajax Amsterdam, Mino Raiola and the player and hence, saw one of the world’s best defenders join the Serie A outfit instead.
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Matthijs de Ligt has not settled in well in Turin and has kept the option of departing the club open, having spent just one season in the Italian top flight. With that said, the Bianconeri are at mixed minds on whether they must get rid of the Netherlands international and if they are supposed to sell him, they will try to recover as much possible from the 75 million euros they spent on him.
Don Balon has reported that Cristiano Ronaldo has prohibited his club from selling the former Ajax Amsterdam captain and all the more so to the Blaugrana. The Portuguese marksman is well aware of the fact that should the centre-back sign for Barca, their chances of winning the Champions League will take a major boost and that’s the last thing he wants.
In spite of being in a financial strain since a few months, it was thought that the La Liga leaders were optimistic about landing de Ligt from Juventus. However, Ronaldo blocking the Dutchman’s departure could come as a disguise for Barca, who are simply chasing the player due to his name and associations with Ajax, and are overlooking his poor season. Instead, they must look for better and cheaper options like Milan Skriniar or Dayot Upamecano.
What’s certain is that the 5-time Champions League winners do need a central defender and perhaps more urgently than an attacking player. Samuel Umtiti is more likely than not to part company with the Camp Nou outfit, whereas the talk is the Gerard Pique may call his career off in 2021 as well, leaving Clement Lenglet the only experienced and senior option in the squad.