Rumour Mongering: Barcelona Back in Pole Position to Land De Ligt

A day after Liverpool were stealing Matthijs de Ligt from them, Barca are back in front. Such is the way with transfer rumours.

Yesterday, reports out of the Catalan press had Barcelona running scared, afraid that Liverpool could swoop in at the last second and best them in their efforts to land star 19-year-old centre half Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax.

Today, they think a deal is done to take the player to Barcelona. Such is the way of it when it comes to transfer rumours. We didn’t put much stock in yesterday’s suggestion Liverpool could land De Ligt, but for any who did, it seems worth updating.

At least according to Catalan television station Esport 3, the framework of a deal with Ajax is now in place and agent Mino Raiola is currently meeting with Barcelona representatives in Monaco to hammer out personal terms.

Any announcement would be expected to wait at least until the end of the Eredivisie season, with Ajax not yet mathematically safe—though it would take an Ajax loss, PSV win, and 14 goal swing on the final day for them to lose the league.

Barcelona also have two games left this season, a final league game against Eibar and then the Copa del Rey final against Valencia on the 25th, which means it might take a little longer still for any deal to be made official.

Assuming, that is, a deal is as close as is being reported, one day after Liverpool were on the verge of stealing De Ligt away. Which we don’t think they really were but, hey, it’s fun to think Barcelona see us as that kind of a threat these days.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com