Raiola: Juve were De Ligt’s first choice and Barca treated him like a cheese

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Football agent Mino Raiola confirms that Matthijs De Ligt only ever wanted to join Juventus, despite interest from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

The 19-year-old joined the Bianconeri in the summer prior to strong reports linking him with a move to Barcelona, however Raiola has revealed that was never the case.

“The most important thing is that Matthijs is happy,” Raiola told Voetbal International.

“He could have gone to Juve a year earlier, but Ajax had asked him to stay when some agreements had already been made (between the two clubs).

“But because of Frenkie De Jong’s transfer to Barcelona, where he left for a large amount, Ajax wanted more than was agreed.

“In the end, De Ligt returned to his first choice, Juventus. He was surprised by the interest of Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and other clubs, but at Juve, De Ligt works with the best defenders in order to become the best. He’s not interested in money, he just wants to play football.

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“According to many Dutch people, Barcelona is not a foreign club, but really Dutch. Matthijs should have gone there by force, instead, it wasn’t like that and it was almost a sort of sacrilege.

“The Catalans thought: ‘as it arrives From Jong, he will also arrive. ‘ They treated him like cheese, let’s say. But the reasons why they wanted him there were wrong: Do you think that one like Pique was going to leave his spot in the team? “.

“Mattthis is not interested in money, he just wants to play football. I talk a lot with Pavel Nedved, he is like a son to me. Pavel says: ‘This boy is even crazier than I was. He is a Ballon d’Or winner!’”.

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