Matthijs De Ligt officially joins Juventus after signing £53m contract
MATTHIJS DE LIGHT has completed his £67.5million move to Juventus after signing a five-year deal with the Italian champions.
The 19-year-old Ajax defender snubbed interest from Spain and England to make the move to Serie A in a switch that will net him £53m over the term of his £206,000-a-week contract.
An official Juve statement said: "Juventus Football Club SpA announces that it has reached an agreement with Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax NV for the definitive acquisition of the registration rights of the player Matthijs de Ligt for a fee of € 75 million payable in five years over accessory charges for € 10.5 million.
"Juventus signed a five-year performance contract with the same player until June 30, 2024."
The Dutch international is regarded as one of the best young players in world football after two stunning seasons in the Ajax first team.
De Ligt was named captain of the Amsterdam giants by the age of 18, and helped them reach the semi-final of the Champions League before they lost in the final seconds to Tottenham,
His performances caught the eye of a host of the biggest clubs across Europe, with Barcelona keen to add to to their squad along with Ajax team-mate Frenkie de Jong.
In England, both Manchester United and Manchester City made their interest known - with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in particular keen to land the centre-back.
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But his agent Mino Raiola has close links with Juventus, with several stars he controls playing for the club.
And he guided his player to Turin, revealing last week that De Ligt had snubbed the advances of United in favour of joining Juve.
Barcelona then mounted a late bid to snatch him, but they were too late to stop the Italian champions agreeing the £67.5m fee for their star player.
