Juventus confident of beating Paris Saint-Germain to De Ligt

Juventus have moved to the front of the queue to sign sought after Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt, claims Gianluca Di Marzio.

De Ligt has emerged as the most promising young centre-back on the planet in the last 12 months after leading Ajax to the domestic double and the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

It was thought that the Netherlands international would end up joining Barcelona this summer alongside his Ajax team-mate Frankie de Jong.

Barcelona were then leapfrogged in the queue by Paris Saint-Germain, who are willing to offer De Ligt more money, but neither side have managed to close a deal for the teenager.

This has allowed Juventus to steal a march in the race to sign De Ligt and now the Serie A champions are growing increasingly confident of beating their European rivals to his signature.

Juventus have trumped PSG’s offer of £340,000-a-week wages with a stunning £400,000-a-week salary over the duration of a five-year deal.

One stumbling block in negotiations is Mino Raiola’s insistence of a release clause in De Ligt’s contract to allow a move away in the future.

Juventus are yet to table a formal bid to Ajax but it is expected an offer between €70m (£62.6m) and €75m (£67.1m) will be enough to prise the teen away from the Eredivisie champions.

De Ligt finished the 2018/19 campaign in the WhoScored Team of the Season in both the Champions League and the Eredivisie.