Report: Barcelona losing ground to Bayern Munich, Juventus in race for Matthijs de Ligt (Updated)

According to a new report by ESPNFC, Barcelona are losing ground on the transfer of Ajax star Matthijs de Ligt due to the player’s exorbitant salary demands. Because of this, clubs like Bayern Munich and Juventus have reentered the race and hope to secure the young Dutchman with more enticing offers.

According to ESPN, the Catalans are unable to go any higher on their offer but hope that the player’s desire to move to the Camp Nou will win out in the end. However, Mino Raiola is the one advising de Ligt on his transfer, so the monetary considerations weigh heavily on the player’s mind.

This is why clubs like Bayern Munich, Juventus, and PSG have rekindled their hope that they can acquire the Dutchman’s services. However, it seems a little strange that a club like Bayern would offer more than Barcelona, given how financially conservative they’ve been all these years. The acquisition of Lucas Hernandez also makes things difficult for the Bavarians, since a logjam in central defense would seem inevitable even with Jerome Boateng reportedly leaving.

However, de Ligt falls into the category of sub-€80m players Bayern president Uli Hoeness says Bayern Munich would get, so maybe there’s a chance. The main argument in favor of the Ajax captain is his youth — whichever team gets him will have their center back position secure for the the next 15 years or more.

Update

De Ligt may not be as expensive as once thought. According to Guillem Balague (not exactly a reliable source though), Ajax will be happy with around 60-70m euros for de Ligt, and Barcelona are offering the least in terms of financial incentives. Maybe if Bayern are willing to pay, they can land him ahead of the Catalans.