Real Madrid Transfers: 5 possible replacements for Sergio Ramos after farewell
Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)
The option of Matthijs de Ligt is the best replacement possible for Sergio Ramos, considering the current crop of young centre-backs. But at the same time, he is also the least practical option due to various factors.
Sergio Ramos isn’t just a technically perfect centre-back, he was also the leader for Real Madrid who would be willing to give his hundred per cent on the field to defend the badge of his club. Character-wise, you could say that Dutch international would be the most similar player to Ramos, with the Dutch international usually looking like a man of character on the field. He looks like a leader on the pitch, despite not wearing the armband for his current club.
Technically, he isn’t at the level of Ramos yet, and some improvement is possible in the ball-playing aspect of his game, but defensively he’s solid as a rock. He is the kind of player who keeps his body on the line to win the ball and doesn’t hesitate to push himself to the extreme limits. At times that backfires physically with him getting injured, but a supremely determined warrior like him always manages to get back quickly and help his team in the best way possible.
According to WhoScored, he managed to register 1.6 successful tackles per 90 mins, 1.3 interceptions per 90 mins, along with 0.9 shots blocked per 90 mins. These numbers only show us how good De Ligt has been for Juventus, despite having a stop-start season due to injuries. It is safe to call De Ligt a proven player at the age of 21. he has been playing at such a high level for the past few years.
Every club would love to have a player like him in their squad and would make him their number one target. Similarly, Juventus want to have a hold of him, and see him as an untransferable player. They are suffering losses due to the pandemic, but the Bianconeri aren’t interested in selling their asset having a market value of 75 million euros. The player received interest from Barcelona in recent days, but he simply chalked off those rumours, indicating that he is happy at Juventus.
Considering all the factors, getting a defender like him would be impossible for any club. And the player hasn’t even been linked to the club in recent months, which proves that the club isn’t interested in getting him now. But he is still the best option out there, and if possible it would be great if Real Madrid plot a move for De Ligt in the future. A player like him would be the ideal successor to Ramos.