Juventus have announced the signing of highly-rated Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax.
The 19-year-old, who had previously been linked with Manchester United and Barcelona, has signed a five-year contract with the Serie A champions.
Juve have paid an initial fee of 75 million euros (£67.8million) for a player who helped Ajax reach last season's Champions League semi-finals and win the Eredivisie title, while reaching the Nations League final with Holland.
The teenager is reportedly set to earn a potential weekly salary of €460,000 (£416,000) if all the add-ons are achieved.
At the weekend Leiderdorp-born De Ligt was left out of Ajax's squad for their summer tour to Austria pending a transfer and he arrived in Turin on Wednesday to undergo a medical at Juve's headquarters.
We fuel adrenaline. We ignite ambition. Are you ready? #LiveAhead#TURNDELIGTON pic.twitter.com/wDeIlgoDrT
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) July 18, 2019
Earlier in the summer the Holland international was expected to join Barcelona, who have signed his former Ajax team-mate Frenkie De Jong, while Premier League club United and Paris St Germain had reportedly been interested in securing his services.
De Ligt joins Cristian Romero, Luca Pellegrini, Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot and Merih Demiral as a new signing at Juve, with recently-appointed head coach Maurizio Sarri also bringing veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon back to Turin ahead of a bid for a ninth consecutive league title for the Bianconeri.
Sporting Life verdict...
This is a deal that makes a lot of sense. De Ligt was expected to move on this summer and Juventus have seemingly made funds available to bring in a number of big names.
La Vecchia Signora clearly have significant talent going forward, and a midfield to match any of Europe's other top sides, but the centre-back position is one where they needed new arrivals and de Ligt's signing can be seen as a real coup.
That said, there is a school of thought that says Mino Raiola may want to force a move through to a Barcelona or Real Madrid in another big money move in a few years time - so that is one to watch.
But this is a fantastic addition from Juventus nonetheless. They've established themselves as the dominant force in Italian football, but European glory as evaded them.
However, this move seems to be the final piece of the puzzle in building a squad capable of winning Europe's ultimate accolade.
