According to De Telegraaf newspaper, Juventus are reportedly prepared to pay more than 70 million euros for star Dutch defender and Ajax captain Matthijs.

Italian powerhouses Juventus are on the hunt for star Dutch defender and Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt and are reportedly prepared to pay more than 70 million euros, according to De Telegraaf newspaper Saturday. The teenage center-back has previously been linked to a possible transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, but Juventus “are seducing the Ajax defender with a contract almost impossible to refuse, and star player Cristiano Ronaldo’s charms”, Cristiano Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has been an inspiration to many sports personalities, the paper reported. It comes after television cameras picked up a short, but genial conversation between Ronaldo and De Ligt after the Netherlands lost 1-0 against Portugal in the Nations League final earlier this month.

Portugal’s victory in the inaugural Nations League sparked celebrations long into the night in Porto on Sunday, but the hosts were far from the only ones happy at the end of UEFA’s attempt to add more competition to the international calendar. A complex format that saw UEFA’s 55 nations split into four tiers with promotion and relegation on offer, as well as the chance of a playoff to qualify for next year’s European Championships, took some time to get used to.

Asked by the Dutch public broadcaster NOS at the time whether Ronaldo wanted to know if De Ligt, 19, would join him at the Turin-based Juventus, De Ligt said: “That could well be, yes.”

“I didn’t understand him at first. I was a little shocked, so I laughed. But I didn’t say anything,” De Ligt pointed out.
Should De Ligt decide to move to the Italian club he could rake in between 15 to 20 million euros annually, the NOS added, saying the contract would last five years.

It would not be the first time a well-known Ajax player made the move to the Italian club, with former Dutch international goalkeeper and current Ajax CEO Edwin playing 66 games for Juventus between 1999 and 2001.

De Ligt’s manager and sometimes controversial football agent, the Dutch Italian Raiola, is also said to keep “warm ties” with Juventus, De Telegraaf said.

But the paper said a transfer to PSG wasn’t completely out of the picture: “It should never be written off.”