Matthijs de Ligt / signs for Juventus, lowering their average age to 56

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Dolf

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Maybe De Ligt told him he was going to Barcelona but Najib Amhali didn't know it wasn't announced yet.
 

RD94

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Course it isn't. Being a cornerstone of a rebuild and having a team, in part, rebuilt around you, can very attractive. Silly to think otherwise.
Agree.We would give him all that he needs except of Champions league this season and probably more money.
 

swred

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This is turning into a proper muppet thread.
I'm struggling with the highs & lows already.
 

nainaisson

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It's funny how our fans are ready to give up as soon as the slightest link to Barca comes up. Have more faith guys. It's not done until I see him in a Barca kit.
I'm less worried about Barca than PSG. I doubt their Qatari owners really even want the player, but they'll do everything in their power to keep us from getting him because they're the biggest sore losers I've ever known.
 

Nickosaur

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I think I could just about handle de Ligt moving abroad.

Imagine if he ended up at City or worse. . . Liverpool. A MDL-VVD defence would dominate for the next 5 years.

For what it's worth, i'm still quietly optimistic he'll join united.
 

Sarni

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I'm less worried about Barca than PSG. I doubt their Qatari owners really even want the player, but they'll do everything in their power to keep us from getting him because they're the biggest sore losers I've ever known.
They don't have ways to sign him under FFP.
 

izec

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It is quite obvious that he is Barca bound, the only thing holding this up is Raiola and his demands. Barca will cave in eventually once they sell a player or two
 

Nick7

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It is quite obvious that he is Barca bound, the only thing holding this up is Raiola and his demands. Barca will cave in eventually once they sell a player or two
Looking at this thread, seems it's not obvious to some (most?). He's been nailed on to Barca for an absolute age now. I can't believe people are actually investing in this.
 

gr3yham3

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It is quite obvious that he is Barca bound, the only thing holding this up is Raiola and his demands. Barca will cave in eventually once they sell a player or two
There is no way to confirm that this is 100% true. Believing in this means that the Barca propaganda has succeeded, and that Barca have managed to paint a win-win situation for themselves. De Ligt joins them and they have won the race for the player. De Ligt joins other clubs means that Barca won "morally" as they stuck by the principles and he and his agent wanted more money.

When it comes to using the press to paint favourable pictures of themselves, no one can top the 2 big Spanish clubs and the various papers that they are associated with.
 

Leftback99

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It is quite obvious that he is Barca bound, the only thing holding this up is Raiola and his demands. Barca will cave in eventually once they sell a player or two
This. If he really wanted to come here it would be done already.
 

gr3yham3

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This. If he really wanted to come here it would be done already.
Similarly, if he really wanted to go to Barca, the deal would have been done, just like how De Jong is already a Barca player.

He already said that his dream club is Ajax, not this Barca nonsense that has been created mainly by the Catalan press and whoever is associated with them. Also, many have pointed out the various reasons why we are a good choice for him to join as well, meeting many of the criteria that again, De Ligt himself mentioned he was looking out for when making a decision on his new club.
 

izec

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There is no way to confirm that this is 100% true. Believing in this means that the Barca propaganda has succeeded, and that Barca have managed to paint a win-win situation for themselves. De Ligt joins them and they have won the race for the player. De Ligt joins other clubs means that Barca won "morally" as they stuck by the principles and he and his agent wanted more money.

When it comes to using the press to paint favourable pictures of themselves, no one can top the 2 big Spanish clubs and the various papers that they are associated with.
Thats exactly what i believe. If he wanted PSG or United, the deal would be done by now. He wants Barca and waits for them to improve their offer. If it doesnt happen, then we can talk about other clubs having a chance. The reports in the media will be different though

I think they will improve their offer, same happened with De Jong. If you look at the situation, everybody will see Barca will make it if they offer him the money. No shame in that.
 

cyberman

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It is quite obvious that he is Barca bound, the only thing holding this up is Raiola and his demands. Barca will cave in eventually once they sell a player or two
The only thing holding it up is lowballing the player, agent and representatives?
That qualifies as only thing? Seems pretty major to me.
 

gr3yham3

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Thats exactly what i believe. If he wanted PSG or United, the deal would be done by now. He wants Barca and waits for them to improve their offer. If it doesnt happen, then we can talk about other clubs having a chance. The reports in the media will be different though

I think they will improve their offer, same happened with De Jong. If you look at the situation, everybody will see Barca will make it if they offer him the money. No shame in that.
Or it could simply mean that he has several options on the table, with each having their own pros and cons. Thus he needs time to decide which one to take.

Ultimately he may really end up at Barca, but to say we have no hope at all in landing him, I wont buy into that. This is so similar to the Pogba saga -everyone was saying he was going to Real. Look what happened in the end.
 

Adam-Utd

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Thats exactly what i believe. If he wanted PSG or United, the deal would be done by now. He wants Barca and waits for them to improve their offer. If it doesnt happen, then we can talk about other clubs having a chance. The reports in the media will be different though

I think they will improve their offer, same happened with De Jong. If you look at the situation, everybody will see Barca will make it if they offer him the money. No shame in that.
Or maybe the deal is agreed but the medical can't be done until he's finished international duty?

Perhaps we don't want to announce it until he can come and do press photos etc. There is genuinely no rush apart from impatient fans.
 

izec

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Or it could simply mean that he has several options on the table, with each having their own pros and cons. Thus he needs time to decide which one to take.

Ultimately he may really end up at Barca, but to say we have no hope at all in landing him, I wont buy into that. This is so similar to the Pogba saga -everyone was saying he was going to Real. Look what happened in the end.
It is not similar to Pogba. The small but huge difference is that Pogba played for us and he loved/loves the club. De Ligt has no such feelings here. Plus i would argue we had Jose and everyone thought we were on the up with Zlatan also coming here, the feel around the club and fanbase was different
 

Patrick08

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It is not similar to Pogba. The small but huge difference is that Pogba played for us and he loved/loves the club. De Ligt has no such feelings here. Plus i would argue we had Jose and everyone thought we were on the up with Zlatan also coming here, the feel around the club and fanbase was different
The feel around Barca with valverde is not rosy either.
 

izec

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Or maybe the deal is agreed but the medical can't be done until he's finished international duty?

Perhaps we don't want to announce it until he can come and do press photos etc. There is genuinely no rush apart from impatient fans.
I am not really impatient. I just gave my opinion.

Players leave for medicals during international duty all the time. It can be done in an afternoon as he isnt far away from the UK.

I understand that fans want to hold on to every piece of glimmer or hope there is, and you have every right in doing so. I just wanted to share my opinion for the souls out there who can see what i see, the game played by Raiola and Barca through journos and media.
 

Adam-Utd

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I am not really impatient. I just gave my opinion.

Players leave for medicals during international duty all the time. It can be done in an afternoon as he isnt far away from the UK.

I understand that fans want to hold on to every piece of glimmer or hope there is, and you have every right in doing so. I just wanted to share my opinion for the souls out there who can see what i see, the game played by Raiola and Barca through journos and media.
What's the point? Why not just wait until you can do everything in 1 go?

It's your opinion and that's fine, we genuinely don't know either way. It depends who you believe in the press but IMO we have as good a chance as any. Yes Raiola is trying to get every penny he can - that's what he does. If Barca can't stump up the cash then he has a choice, sign with them for less or come to us for more.

It's up to us to sell him the project and make him feel he's not wasting his time. He's already stated he wants to go somewhere he will play regularly and develop.
 

izec

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The feel around Barca with valverde is not rosy either.
They are not nailed on to win the CL next season, but it is guaranteed they will challenge for all trophies and have good chances of winning something again. If they pick up De Ligt and maybe Griezmann/Neymar, while getting rid of some of their expensive underperforming players, wouldnt you have them up their as favourites? I would, they would be that good, despite Valverde managing them. Comparing their situation to ours is laughable.
 

ArjenIsM3

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Real Madrid now going for him too after Ramos has requested to leave. So he can choose between Ajax, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and us.
 

anant

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Real Madrid now going for him too after Ramos has requested to leave. So he can choose between Ajax, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and us.
The RM links seem to be BS. They have Varane and have brought in Militao. Additionally they have Nacho as well as Jesus Vallejo. Literally would make no sense to splash 70-80m on a young CB especially when they have 2 highly rated young CBs present
 

Patrick08

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They are not nailed on to win the CL next season, but it is guaranteed they will challenge for all trophies and have good chances of winning something again. If they pick up De Ligt and maybe Griezmann/Neymar, while getting rid of some of their expensive underperforming players, wouldnt you have them up their as favourites? I would, they would be that good, despite Valverde managing them. Comparing their situation to ours is laughable.
All players don't make the decision with this set of thinking in mind, otherwise city would no where be like it is today. It's unpredictable at the moment .
 

gr3yham3

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The RM links seem to be BS. They have Varane and have brought in Militao. Additionally they have Nacho as well as Jesus Vallejo. Literally would make no sense to splash 70-80m on a young CB especially when they have 2 highly rated young CBs present
They won't have the money for it too, especially if they need to revamp the squad as much, if not more, than us. Even if they get Hazard, they will need another striker and maybe another midfielder to replace Modric, someone like Eriksen. All the Mundo leaks now, with Real's interest (we tried our best but there was interest from many other sides who offered more money!) , and us being "interested" in Coutinho ("Hi Matthijs! look at man utd wanting our cast-offs! and we are raising funds to get you in!)

Someone mentioned that there has not been much news from the UK papers regarding our transfers, which I think has been our modus operandi for our big transfers in recent windows.
 

Treble

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Real Madrid now going for him too after Ramos has requested to leave. So he can choose between Ajax, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and us.
Thought Bayern and Juventus were mentioned too. And City. Basically, he will go where he wants to. Unless he is a closet Liverpol fan and they do not want another CB.
 

izec

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All players don't make the decision with this set of thinking in mind, otherwise city would no where be like it is today. It's unpredictable at the moment .
To be fair to City, they have done it quite well. Nobody challenged them for most of their players. The likes of Aguero, Silva, Kompany, Ederson, Fernandinho, Bernardo, Sane, De Bruyne etc... they basically had a free run at most of them. They could offer them wages and paid fees, no clubs were interested in to match or go toe to toe from the start. Same for Liverpool with Fabinho, Keita, Mane, Salah, Van Dijk, Firmino or Alisson. Was there any club even half as much interested in them? I dont think so. De Ligt is a great player, but we are competing with the creme de la creme for his signature. I hope we are talking to our plan B, C and D for CBs at the moment.
 

Adam-Utd

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Ramos isn't leaving. This is just papers getting more legs out of a dead horse.
 

manuchamp88

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Ramos isn't leaving. This is just papers getting more legs out of a dead horse.
It's quite possible. He's now 33 and with De Ligt being the latest must-have star, it would be typical of Florentino to go for him and if Madrid do go for him, can't see De Ligt turning the opportunity down: Champions League at a huge club on offer, huge wages (more than Barca) and probably has been told he will replace Ramos which would tickle anyone's ego.
 

anant

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Ramos isn't leaving. This is just papers getting more legs out of a dead horse.
Even if he is , they've already signed Militao! Makes no sense to go for another CB when they have Varane, Militao, Nacho and Vallejo, and are planning on spending 300m or so on other positions.
 

Enigma_87

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This could end up as a classic Woody. Chase him over the whole summer and end up with a panic buy in late July.

If both Barca and Real are interested, we better have some alternatives in mind.
 
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