German Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich have finally agreed a €80 million transfer fee for Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt and the deal is set to be finalized very soon.
Bayern Munich are ready to hand the Netherlands defender a five-year contract that will keep him at the club until 2027.
The German champions were not the only club interested in signing Matthijs de Ligt as they had to triumph over English Premier League giants Chelsea.
Juventus are currently searching for a possible replacement for their top defender who prepares to leave the Italian giants this week.
According to multiple reports, the negotiation between Bayern Munich and Juventus has now entered its final stage. The agreement is reportedly set to be around €80 million (£68m) including add-ons. The departure of Matthijs de Ligt will leave Juventus with fewer options at the back, which is why they are planning to quickly replace him before the closure of the current summer transfer window.
Bayern Munich had once placed an offer for Matthijs de Ligt but it was rejected and they decided to push again on Sunday. The fresh offer was accepted and they’re prepared to pay an initial fee of €70 million (£59.4m/$70m) plus a further €10m in add-ons in order to land their top transfer target this summer.
🚨 Bayern Munich will pay €70m + €10m in add ons for Matthijs de Ligt.
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) July 17, 2022
The Dutchman has already agreed terms on a 5-year contract.
(Source: @DiMarzio) pic.twitter.com/1jPo6U1jNR
Juventus opted to proceed with the transfer even though the offer was a little lower than what they had wanted to get for the defender. Bayern wants to quickly reach an agreement so that De Ligt may meet his new teammates well before the Bundesliga’s opening weekend on August 5. De Ligt had also caught Chelsea’s attention, but when it became evident that he desired to join Bayern, they turned their attention elsewhere.
After excelling as a youth at Ajax, De Ligt was regarded as the next great Bianconeri center-back when he came to Juventus. Despite helping the team win the Serie A title in his debut season in 2019–20, he hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations in his three seasons with Juventus as the club has struggled within the last two seasons.
Pau Torres of Villarreal is on their shortlist to replace the defender, but the club management does not see him as a top priority and Man City are also interested in the defender.
Other defenders on their list are Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic, Arsenal’s Gabriel, and Geison Bremer. However, the qualities of these players are not up to what Matthijs de Ligt offers and his departure will be felt in the Juventus back four.
The Italian giants are looking to get back to winning ways after failing to win the Serie A title for the past two years and had to finish in the 4th position last season.
