Report: Juve to use Champions League fixture with Ajax for Matthijs de Ligt talks

There seems to be a relatively common thread when it comes to a good number of Juventus’ European opponents the last handful of seasons — one way or another, there’s an ex on the field. We’ve seen recent Juventus signings face their former clubs. We’ve seen players who recently sported bianconero line up against Juventus, most recently Alvaro Morata in the round of 16 after his January move to Atlético Madrid.

Now, following Friday’s Champions League quarterfinal draw, Juventus could very well use the Champions League as a way to get themselves in a favorable position to try and land one of Europe’s biggest talents later on this year.

That’s at least the dots that Tuttosport are trying to connect.

The Turin-based daily’s latest transfer story involves Juventus, Ajax, the Champions League quarterfinals and de Ligt, the teenage defender that is the apple of the eye of Europe’s heavyweight clubs as we move closer and closer to the summer transfer window. Tuttosport’s report in Saturday’s edition outlines Juventus’ plan to use the meeting between the two in the Champions League next month as the chance to meet and discuss a possible summer move for the 19-year-old Dutchman.

This is nowhere near any kind of inside information, but I’m going to go ahead and guess that’s not the last time we see a transfer story with that young man’s face as the centerpiece on a Tuttosport cover page. (Same goes for Moise Kean, for that matter ...)

Maybe this is just Tuttosport being Tuttosport and trying to make something out of nothing. It’s not like Fabio Paratici couldn’t contact the top levels of Ajax’s management team or de Ligt’s representative, Mino Raiola, any time he so well pleased. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the fact that Juventus and Ajax are going to play one another in the Champions League solely means that the two clubs are finally allowed to talk business with one another.

But hey, I guess it couldn’t hurt.

We’ve heard from Paratici in recent weeks that de Ligt, in fact, is a player that Juventus have more than just checked in on. That means all of this isn’t just some made up thing from Tuttosport and we can chalk it up to Tuttosport being Tuttosport. The interest, as far as we can tell, is genuine, and that the possibility of Juventus going into a bidding war with the likes of Barcelona, Manchester City and others isn’t something they want to shy away from.

So, if that means trying to get the upper hand because Ajax will be visiting Allianz Stadium next month, then who am I to discourage Paratici and Co. from doing so? Whatever helps.