Real Madrid superstar wants to follow Ronaldo to Juventus, Barcelona and Chelsea to pull off imminent swap deal and more: Transfer Round-up, November 9, 2018

By Shambhu Ajith

Modified Nov 09, 2018 15:05 GMT

Juventus lead the race to sign Matthijs de Ligt

Ajax v SL Benfica - UEFA Champions League Group E

Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt has been on the radar of some big clubs for quite a while now. Manchester United, Juventus and Barcelona were rumoured to have been keeping an eye on him but now according to Calcio Mercato, Juventus have invited the Ajax defender to visit Turin and the youngster has reportedly accepted the invitation.

While it is clear as day that the real intention of the Bianconeri is to convince de Ligt to join the club, it promises to be a difficult task. Barcelona club president Bartolomeu has identified the Dutchman as his primary transfer target and is expected to match any offer that the Old Lady will make for the 19-year-old.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad