"Barca thought they would sign De Ligt just to get De Jong"

Matthijs de Ligt's signing was one of the hot topics of last summer. The footballer was going to stay at Ajaz, but several teams fought to close his transfer, but several team's fought for his signing, without knowing which he would choose until the last minutes.

De Ligt ended up at Juventus, but Barcelona kept their interest almost until the end. Now, Mino Raiola, the footballer's agent, explained why he ddin't go to the Barca team.

"For many Dutch people, Barcelona is not a foreign club, but a Dutch club. Matthijs should have gone there by force, but he didn't and it was almost a kind of sacrilege," the Italian began.

"Barcelona thought that he was an easy target... De Ligt is Dutch, just like Frenkie, who was also at Ajax. They thought that, if De Jong signed, he would too. The reasons they gave for trying to sign Matthijs were wrong," Raiola confirmed.

The representative stated that they chose Juventus so that De Ligt could have some game time, although he has failed to find regularity in the squad.

"He is not a simple player. Do you think Gerard Pique would step aside for him to play? Matthijs isn't interested in money, he only wants to play football," Raiola stated, confirming that the central's first choice was always Juventus: "Interest from clubs such as Barcelona and PSG surprised him".