Gerard Pique shortlists Serie A defender to replace him in Barcelona in the coming few seasons as the Spaniard nears the final phase of his career.
Last season, Ajax Amsterdam marveled the world with their football in the UEFA Champions League after the Dutch club went on to knock out Real Madrid and Juventus in the knockout stages of the competition before their run came to an end after Tottenham Hotspur’s Lucas Moura pulled off the unthinkable.
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Although the players of Ajax were heartbroken after their defeat against Tottenham Hotspur who progressed onto the Champions League final for their first time, the Dutch team led by Matthijs De Ligt received global recognition and several clubs were eager to get their hands on a few players.
Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs De Ligt were heavily linked with Barcelona, however, Frenkie de Jong signed for Barcelona and Matthijs De Ligt chose to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus. Both the former players have had a rough patch settling in their new clubs, although Matthijs De Ligt has received an unfair share of criticism after the defender struggled in his first few initial months in the city of Turin.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the club is in desperate need of a first-team quality defender to potentially replace Gerard Pique who has entered the final phase of his career.
According to Don Balon, the Spanish defender of Barcelona believes that Matthijs De Ligt of Juventus would be the ideal recruitment to fill in the void once the player hangs his boots up. Although the Blaugrana have the option of offering the role to either Jean-Clair Todibo or Ronaldo Araujo, Gerard Pique insists that the Dutch defender is the right man to take over his legacy at the Camp Nou.
Even though Gerard Pique wants the Juventus man to replace him, it would be a tremendous task for the Catalan team to sign the player since the club shares a strained relationship with his agent, Mino Raiola, and the player is tied down at the Allianz Stadium for another 4 seasons.
Josep Maria Bartomeu is aware that signing the former Ajax captain this season is not feasible since Juventus would not let their marque signing leave so early nor do the Catalans have sufficient funds to sign a player of his stature.
Having said that, Bartomeu considers signing the player in the summer of 2021 by offering the Turin based team 100 million euros for their defender.
Matthijs De Ligt would not have an issue settling down at the Camp Nou since he would be reunited with his former teammate and close friend, Frenkie de Jong. The pair have been friends since their youth academy days and the presence of the midfielder would play an important role for Mattijs De Ligt in settling down and adjusting to life in the city of Barcelona.
Would you want to see De Ligt as a Blaugrana in 2021?