Matthijs de Ligt transfer saga drags on – but it looks like his new club has been identified

The centre-back has been at the centre of one of the transfer sagas of the summer, but the Italian champions appear to have beaten Barcelona, Manchester United and PSG in the race for his signature.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that De Ligt will join up with his Ajax team-mates when they reunite ahead of the 2019/20 campaign, although an agreement is expected to be reached with the Turin club soon.

The Old Lady have already agreed personal terms with the 19-year-old for a five-year contract worth upwards of €50 million, but Ajax are continuing to demand a higher transfer fee than what Juve are putting on the table.

De Ligt’s agent Mino Raiola has claimed that an agreement was made last summer that if the defender stayed in Amsterdam for one more season, he would be allowed to leave for the right price at the end of the 2018/19 campaign.

"Agreements have been made with Matthijs and it is up to Ajax how the club deals with this," Raiola said.

Raiola believes that this verbal agreement, made between the club hierarchy and De Ligt’s father Frank and supervisor Barry Hulshoff, was for a fee of €45-50 million.

However, after a superb season from the Netherlands international, Eredivisie champions Ajax are determined to obtain a larger fee than the reported €50 million without bonuses being offered by Juve.

Raiola insisted he is eager to avoid an arbitration case as he waits on the two clubs to reach an agreement.

“An arbitration case is out of the question for us,” he said.

“I also advised Matthijs, because it does not suit his style and his lifestyle. The player only hopes that Juventus and Ajax will show the will to work and that the deal is completed quickly.”

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