Barcelona face heavy competition from Chelsea for priority defender

Barcelona, in recent years, have been known to have a weak back four with the likes of Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, and Jordi Alba all coming under fire for poor performances in crucial clashes. To tackle this issue, Xavi Hernandez is keen on signing good centre-backs in the summer with one superstar miles ahead on the list of possible signings.

Former Ajax skipper Matthijs de Ligt has been linked with a move to the Nou Camp since 2019 but unfortunately for the Catalans, the 22-year-old didn’t find the move ideal back then as Barca couldn’t promise him a starter role. But with the Spanish giants only having Ronald Araujo as the current undisputed starter, De Ligt would very well be tempted to join in 2022 as a long-term solution for Barca’s centre-back issues.

Many reports have suggested that De Ligt remains the no. 1 centre-back target for Barca but they are not the only ones keen on securing the Dutch superstar. Juventus feel that De Ligt has struggled to live up to his €85.5 million euro price tag and are willing to let him leave in the summer with his agent Mino Raiola setting a  €65 million asking price.

De Ligt transfer won’t be easy for Barcelona

Taking into account Barca’s current financial situation, it won’t be surprising to see another European giant swoop in to secure the promising youngster with La Repubblica via Sport Witness reporting that both Bayern Munich and Chelsea are monitoring the situation closely. The report continues to state that the Blues are ready to go all-in for De Ligt as they are losing many defenders in the summer with Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Andreas Christensen all set to leave on a free transfer.

Barcelona really need to act quickly if they want to sign De Ligt with president Joan Laporta’s positive relationship with super-agent Raiola possibly being a crucial reason for the Catalans getting any priority.

Should Barca go all in for De Ligt?