MANCHESTER CITY HAVE been urged to move for Matthijs de Ligt “immediately”, with former Ajax boss Peter Bosz viewing the teenage defender as the perfect partner for Aymeric Laporte.
The Blues are among a host of clubs to have been linked with the Netherlands international ahead of the summer transfer window.
Goal reported back in October 2018 that Pep Guardiola was considering a raid on the ranks in Amsterdam.
He is by no means the only one to have had such thoughts, though, with the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool and Manchester United also in the mix.
A scramble for a much sought-after signature will be sparked at some stage, and City have been told to position themselves at the front of a queue that could see them improve a squad that has already wrapped up an historic domestic treble in 2019.
Bosz, who spent the 2016-17 season in charge of Ajax, told Voetbal International: “Normally I would say to a 19-year-old boy who has had two years of professional football: Patience, it will come, take two more years of experience with Ajax. In the Eredivisie, in the Champions League.
Only, I think Matthijs is the exception that confirms the rule. That he is already ready for that step.
“But what is the best step? In my eyes, that must be a club where you can play.
“If I were Manchester City, I would get him immediately.
“Vincent Kompany is leaving and I don’t think Nicolas Otamendi is good enough. It would fit perfectly with Laporte. He will play even better with Matthijs next to him, I am convinced of that.
“I also hear Barcelona everywhere, but there you have to deal with Gerard Pique.
That would mean, if Samuel Umtiti did indeed leave, that he had to come to play centrally on the left.
“That doesn’t have to be a problem, because I think Matthijs can play on the left as well as the right in the centre just as easily.”
City are expected to be in the market for another centre-half this summer after seeing Kompany take the decision to walk away from the club after 11 years.
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