Perennial Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are reportedly weighing up a new bid to sign Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt. As reported by Calciomercato, the German heavyweights have readied a €75m offer plus add-ons to convince the Bianconeri to sanction a deal.
Juventus have turned down Bayern’s initial attempt, deeming a €60m plus €10m in bonuses unacceptable. However, the Bavarians have no intention of putting the brakes on their hot pursuit of the highly-rated Dutch defender.
In fact, Bayern and de Ligt already have an agreement over the player’s personal terms in place. But persuading Juventus to get along with the centre-back’s wish to move to the Bundesliga remains daunting.
The record-time Serie A champions paid €75m to take the Dutchman away from Ajax in 2019. Despite the 22-year-old’s mixed spell in Turin, Juventus are reluctant to give up his services for less than €100m.
Yet, the Italians’ request seems excessive, and Bayern have no interest in matching it. But as they have already come to terms with de Ligt, they are equally unwilling to abandon negotiations with Juventus.
The Germans hold all the good cards in the ongoing talks, and the new offer could do the trick. Juventus won’t try to force their wantaway star to reject Bayern’s approach and stay put against his will.
Still, they will try to squeeze out as much money as they can from Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Raising funds from de Ligt’s sale would allow Massimiliano Allegri to revamp his defensive options by the end of the summer.
Juventus have compiled a list of six potential defensive targets to fill the void at the back. After parting with long-serving captain Giorgio Chiellini, they know one reinforcement won’t be enough to settle their backline.
Therefore, the Bianconeri will go after a couple of new defensive additions to keep their squad competitive on multiple fronts.