Pep Guardiola is not happy with Barcelona’s interest in one of his club’s most priced stars over the last few seasons.
Barcelona were initially being considered as the front runners in the quest to sign Matthijs de Ligt, but the pursuit for the Netherlands international has taken a huge turn over the last few weeks and the Catalans are no more keen on bringing the Ajax Amsterdam defender into their setup during the upcoming summer.
Matthijs de Ligt’s wage demands are exorbitant, and that coupled with Mino Raiola’s agent fees plus Ajax’s hefty asking price is putting the Spanish champions in a financially tight position. As a result, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus have all pounced, thereby putting Barcelona’s approach far behind their own.
According to Fox Sports, the Blaugrana will now turn to Manchester City in their bid to satisfy a probable vacancy in the centre of defence. Vincent Kompany has already left the club and could be followed by John Stones. The Englishman is a new entrant on Barcelona’s radar, but whether the Premier League champions will let him leave remains to be seen.
The former Everton defender is not a first choice central defender under Pep Guardiola, and even despite Vincent Kompany’s departure, the ex-Bayern Munich boss would prefer pairing up Nicolas Otamendi and Aymeric Laporte. Nevertheless, at 25, Stones is seen as the future of the club and more so with the way his development is going under Pep Guardiola.
Having virtually given up on Matthijs de Ligt, John Stones could have been a seasoned and proven signing, but the club would not want to disappoint one of the most important figures in its history. That being said, the Catalans will now turn their attention to signing a left back and striker first as that is of greater importance right now.
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