Matthijs de Ligt

Zidane82 said:

I read that De Ligt wanted an agent who was an ex player so he’d understand things from a player’s position and that’s what he did .. he apparently trusted his agent’s judgment ( rightly or wrongly) in hiring Raiola .

All sounds perfectly feasible considering the lad’s age

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I don't see why we should pretend that De Ligt is just a kid that doesn't have a say in anything. He isn't a child anymore, and he surely isn't that dumb. He knows what's going on, i mean it's fucking Mino Raiola EVERYONE knows how that guy operates.

So either De Ligt is cool with it, what would be okay because it's his decision and if he isn't set on joining Barca then let Raiola do his thing. Or he is actually dumb as a brick, blindly trusts Raiola, doesn't understand what's going on at all and has to join whoever pays Raiola the most even though he only wants to join Barca deep down. I personally think it's the first option.

Raiola isn't the best influence but it's still De Ligts decision. If he wants to join Barca he can join Barca, Raiola can't stop him. But if he only wants to join Barca if Barca matches the best offer then it's also his decision, not Raiolas.

Just so you know, Raiola is not much of an advisor to De Ligt. His father and original agent, as well as his father-in-law are his advisors.

De Ligt wants to go to Barca, Raiola wants to maximize De Ligt's wage and his own agent-fee; these are their goals.
Raiola wants a complete free hand in reaching their goal, De Ligt agreed and lets Raiola play the game he is best at.
They are currently playing the game.

The only reason I could see that De Ligt will not go to Barca is because other clubs give signals they want him way way more than Barca;
- Barca is offering the lowest wages by far
- Ernesto Valverde did not even call with De Ligt
- Barca has the slimmest (development)plan and ideas around De Ligt

Sure, you could say that Barca is offering a fine contract. But what would you do when there's 3 other topclubs who want to give you double the wage Barca wants to give you, tell you you're is being bought as a starter, tell you that they will buy players who suit your playstyle and so on... They are making him important, while Barca seems almost uninterested. What kind of impression would you have? Stop being biased and try to be objective for once.

Barca needs De Ligt a lot! I dont understand that some here deny that, lol.

Pique: getting older, played his first good season in a while, who says he wont be bad-Pique again next season?
Umtiti: chronically injured.
Lenglet: not good enough, decent back up at best.
Tobido; a talented player, but closer to Barca B's level than the first team.

So we have 1 worthy defender in Pique, and it's not even sure that he will be good enough next season. I mean, 2017/2018 Pique was close to being replaced.

VN10 said:

De Ligt wants to go to Barca, Raiola wants to maximize De Ligt's wage and his own agent-fee; these are their goals.

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Raiola most definitely told him that he's just 19 and that he'll always have a chance to go to Barca later in his career. But first he'll have to develop both his abilites and his wallet at PSG.

No doubt Raiola sees PSG as a stepping stone before the next big pay day.

I am pretty sure nobody has a clue about whats going on. Maybe barca is seriously lowballing him. If he gets offered DOUBLE somewhere else + guaranteed playing time + CL.. Why pick Barca?

You look at is as fanboys and think that Barca is the only place any person wants to be. Sure, Messi is great and all but MdL might prefer learning from the Juve defenders.. Sure, he and FdJ are good teammates but what is the last time you took a job somewhere your buddy works.. Sure Barcelona is a nice city but how often do Barca players leave their fortified villas to roam the streets and enjoy local eateries..? Sure, Barca's traditional playing style appeals but to be fair; it's a one man show nowdays..

If he ends up signing at Barca for serious lower wages than Juve, QSG, Liverpool, MC and MU offer he should be considered an instant hero. Give the guy some time to have the offer increased

Ajax said:

I am pretty sure nobody has a clue about whats going on. Maybe barca is seriously lowballing him. If he gets offered DOUBLE somewhere else + guaranteed playing time + CL.. Why pick Barca?

You look at is as fanboys and think that Barca is the only place any person wants to be. Sure, Messi is great and all but MdL might prefer learning from the Juve defenders.. Sure, he and FdJ are good teammates but what is the last time you took a job somewhere your buddy works.. Sure Barcelona is a nice city but how often do Barca players leave their fortified villas to roam the streets and enjoy local eateries..? Sure, Barca's traditional playing style appeals but to be fair; it's a one man show nowdays..

If he ends up signing at Barca for serious lower wages than Juve, QSG, Liverpool, MC and MU offer he should be considered an instant hero. Give the guy some time to have the offer increased

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I highly doubt we are lowballing him. Just because PSG or others doubled our offer and came up with ridiculous wages for him it doesn't mean we are lowballing him. He is just 19, and a CB and he doesn't deserve to be paid more than De Jong. Even if we went with the reported 7.5m to 8m net per year, that is hardly lowballing.

He can go wherever he wants.

We agree to let PSG have De Ligt in exchange for them to cooperate in us bringing Neymar back to the Camp Nou and future transfers

Messigician said:

We agree to let PSG have De Ligt in exchange for them to cooperate in us bringing Neymar back to the Camp Nou and future transfers

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No way we should do that. We should secure De Ligt and than we should talk about exchanging other players for Neymar. (Coutinho + Umtiti) or (Dembele + Umtiti). As much as I would like to see Dembouz leave we should absolutely sign De Ligt and leave him out of these combinations.

Luftstalag14 said:

I highly doubt we are lowballing him. Just because PSG or others doubled our offer and came up with ridiculous wages for him it doesn't mean we are lowballing him. He is just 19, and a CB and he doesn't deserve to be paid more than De Jong. Even if we went with the reported 7.5m to 8m net per year, that is hardly lowballing.

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I highly doubt, no, I'm very sure that you have no idea what you're talking about.

De doesn't deserve to be paid more than De Jong? Who decides that? You?
The market says otherwise. Also De Ligt is more talented than De Jong. De Jong's skillset is just more rare.

If Barca had saved millions on useless players like Murillo, Lenglet, Boateng and just gave Barca B players a back-up role and a chance, we would already have had De Ligt.

VN10 said:

I highly doubt, no, I'm very sure that you have no idea what you're talking about.

De doesn't deserve to be paid more than De Jong? Who decides that? You?
The market says otherwise. Also De Ligt is more talented than De Jong. De Jong's skillset is just more rare.

If Barca had saved millions on useless players like Murillo, Lenglet, Boateng and just gave Barca B players a back-up role and a chance, we would already have had De Ligt.

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So even you are conceding that we might not be getting De Ligt?

Sure we could have spent our money much more wisely (2m wasted on Boateng etc.), but even so we still shouldn't be paying De Ligt more than De Jong. De Ligt is a CB, not as important as a midfielder.

In addition, it is not like we don't have the money to match PSG's offer, it is that we are choosing not to do so. Have you ever heard of such a thing called wage structure? If we pay a young, 19-year-old CB the kind of wages that we are paying Buquets, Pique then everybody wants a big raise.

You are just a De Ligt fanboy who puts the interest of De Ligt ahead of that of the club. Of course it is easy for you to say.

Jesus fucking christ, some are talking about De Ligt like he is Ronaldinho or something.

- We are more or less set for 2 more years at CB;
- He is not the best CB in the world yet;
- We have a fucked up wage structure;
- Our more pressing needs lie in midfield and attack, new defenders can take a back seat;
- CBs/defenders have always been less important than forwards and midfielders, who are, rightfully, paid more every damn time, both in wages and transfer fees.

Considering all the above, and going by the reports that we are offering him De Jong level wages(in the range of 5m to 10m net by all accounts), then Bartomeu has done enough. If he rejects us then fair enough and good luck to him. At Barcelona he's not entitled to get more and if some other team decides that he's worth 15m or 20m then good luck to them too. We should not increase our offer, not even by 1m and if we do match whatever PSG/United etc. are rumored to offer then I'd be rather disappointed in us caving like that to Raiola's and De Ligt's demands.

Sorin said:

Jesus fucking christ, some are talking about De Ligt like he is Ronaldinho or something.

- We are more or less set for 2 more years at CB;
- He is not the best CB in the world yet;
- We have a fucked up wage structure;
- Our more pressing needs lie in midfield and attack, new defenders can take a back seat;
- CBs/defenders have always been less important than forwards and midfielders, who are, rightfully, paid more every damn time, both in wages and transfer fees.

Considering all the above, and going by the reports that we are offering him De Jong level wages(in the range of 5m to 10m net by all accounts), then Bartomeu has done enough. If he rejects us then fair enough and good luck to him. At Barcelona he's not entitled to get more and if some other team decides that he's worth 15m or 20m then good luck to them too. We should not increase our offer, not even by 1m and if we do match whatever PSG/United etc. are rumored to offer then I'd be rather disappointed in us caving like that to Raiola's and De Ligt's demands.

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Totally agree , most overhyped player ever. He might go on to be a great player and he also might be garbage when he has to move up a few levels , it wouldnt be the first time an overhyped player never performed.
CB is not where Barcas problems are.

[MD] | PSG is unsure about De Ligt's intentions and is following the track of Koulibaly.According to Soccer Link, the Parisian club has already made an offer for the center-back of Napoli to his agent

De Ligt the most overhyped player ever?

We are set 2 more years at CB? We aren't even set right now, let alone in 2 years.

Gari said:

[MD] | PSG is unsure about De Ligt's intentions and is following the track of Koulibaly.According to Soccer Link, the Parisian club has already made an offer for the center-back of Napoli to his agent

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no idea if thats reliable but any club that signs De Ligt this summer know he and Raiola will be angling for a move to Barca within 2-3 years. i'm really surprised they were so transparent in that regard with De Ligt's interview (for MD i believe?) Koulibaly would make alot of sense

if United were in the CL i think they'd be perfect for Raiola. bring in De Ligt to soften the blow when he moves Pogba (another of his clients) to Juve/Madrid then kick up a fuss to get the ultimate move to Barca in a few years

imho De Ligt should just stay another season at Ajax where he can continue to improve as their captain

Givenchy said:

no idea if thats reliable but any club that signs De Ligt this summer know he and Raiola will be angling for a move to Barca within 2-3 years. i'm really surprised they were so transparent in that regard with De Ligt's interview (for MD i believe?) Koulibaly would make alot of sense

if United were in the CL i think they'd be perfect for Raiola. bring in De Ligt to soften the blow when he moves Pogba (another of his clients) to Juve/Madrid then kick up a fuss to get the ultimate move to Barca in a few years

imho De Ligt should just stay another season at Ajax where he can continue to improve as their captain

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Koulibaly is very good, even maybe better than de Ligt right now. Problem is his club is not really open to a sale. They just ask for fuck off money like 120-150 M€ for him. The player himself has no interest going to PSG. Dead transfer even before it has come to life.

De Ligt, on the other hand, is allowed to leave by his club who will not put a 100 M+ price tag. Clubs just need to convince the player. De Ligt wouldn't stay at Ajax. They can't afford his wage demands anymore and his ambitions. They are like that Monaco team : playing good football with load of talented players but the best talents will join the top clubs.