Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus from Ajax)
Bayern aren’t the only ones seeking reinforcements to make a serious run at the Champions League. After signing Ronaldo last season, Juventus acquired Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax for $83.5 million.
The 19-year-old is one of the world’s best young defenders. By prying him away from Ajax, Juve has been able to bolster its already-tight backline. It was back in April that De Ligt tallied the winning goal in the Champions League quarterfinals against Juventus, sending Ajax to the semifinals of the competition for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
De Ligt had been involved in a tug-of-war between Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus for most of the summer, but the Turin-based club was able to convince the center-back to join them. Juve have been on as buying spree this summer. In addition to De Ligt, they have signed Luca Pellegrini from AS Roma, Cristian Romero from Genoa and Merih Demiral from Sassuolo. Meanwhile, Gianluigi Buffon, Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey arrived as free agents.
Fresh off winning the Dutch league, De Ligt is ready to add more silverware to his trophy case. In Serie A, De Ligt will go up against some of the best strikers in the world and gain lots of experience in a league that has traditionally valued good defending over the need for offense.