Real Madrid Transfers: Mino Raiola drops a hint about Matthijs de Ligt’s future

The closest Real Madrid can get to replacing Sergio Ramos in the future is the signing of Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt. For several of us, the Dutch centre-back is considered to be the ideal heir to Ramos’ legacy at Madrid mainly because of De Ligt’s maturity, leadership and aggressive style of play.

While the 22-year-old is certainly on every club’s wishlist, his agent Mino Raiola has dropped an important hint over the player’s future.

The Italian super-agent spoke about the possibility of AC Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli joining Juventus and playing alongside Matthijs de Ligt in the centre-back position. However, Raiola then stated that there is no guarantee that De Ligt will continue with the Bianconeri next season, via Fabrizio Romano.

Juventus signed Matthijs de Ligt in the summer of 2019 for 85 million euros from Ajax on a five year deal. Two seasons later, it looks like the former Ajax captain wants out from Juve after completing his third season.

Should Real Madrid enter the market next season for De Ligt?

Without a doubt, Real Madrid must enter the market next season for Matthijs de Ligt if he plans on leaving Juventus. But can Los Blancos afford the signing of the 22-year-old? Let’s get to that now.

The Bianconeri are currently struggling financially after incurring drastic losses during the pandemic which eventually resulted in Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure. Given their current predicament, Juve could consider offloading De Ligt as well to fetch a handsome sum in the transfer market and help balance out the books.

Since they paid 85 million euros for the Dutch international, Juventus would look to sell Matthijs de Ligt from anywhere around 80-100 million euros next season to recoup their earlier investment.

Signing De Ligt should not be much of a problem for Real Madrid mainly because of two reasons. Firstly, Florentino Perez and Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli share a cordial relationship. Perez’s influence and close ties with Juventus and their board will come in handy if the club is to sign Matthijs de Ligt.

Second of all, meeting the asking fee for the 22-year-old would not be a problem since Real Madrid have accumulated enough money to sign both Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe next season.

In fact, it’s been a blessing that Paris Saint-Germain turned down Madrid’s final offer worth 200 million euros for Mbappe since it’s given the club more funding to work with next year while also securing Mbappe on a free transfer.

Real Madrid desperately require a centre-back after losing both Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane in the summer. Carlo Ancelotti has performed well so far with his attractive attacking brand of football but there are several loopholes in the defence that need to be sorted out. The signing of Matthijs de Ligt next season would be a step towards the right direction of rebuilding the defence.