Manchester City are said to be interested in Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt.
What's the word?
That is according to Sport Witness, who have relayed a report from Calciomercato.
As per the report, De Ligt's deal at Juventus expires in the summer of 2024 and includes a release clause of €120m that is valid across this summer.
It is said that the Serie A giants are looking to extend his contract, but if the 22-year-old was to extend his stay in Turin, he would see his annual salary drop from €12m to €7.5m including bonuses.
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have shown interest in the Dutch centre-back, though no formal offers have been made as of yet.
An offer in excess of €70m (£60m) is said to be enough to start negotiations with the Old Lady, though Sport Witness quite aptly point out that both Manchester sides could be being used by De Ligt and his representatives to put pressure on Juve to improve their offer.
The new Kompany
De Ligt was described as an "oil tanker" by the late Mino Raiola, with the super-agent having said:
“Matthijs is like an oil tanker, you can’t expect him to suddenly turn 90 degrees. He goes steadily. But, once he’s on course, he can’t be stopped.”
And quite simply, it is an astute analogy that encapsulates the 22-year-old's defensive style in a nutshell.
He is perhaps a more clunky defender like Kompany in terms of an athletic comparison to the existing options at Manchester City, though his defensive awareness and subsequent reliability at the back, similarly to the now Burnley manager, is a real plus point.
De Ligt is rarely embarrassed at the back, registering 0.00 errors per 90, being dribbled past just 0.25 times and occupying a successful pressure percentage of 41.5% - with all three aforementioned metrics placing him within the 83rd to the 92nd percentile, as per FBref.
Though, with Pep's recent preference in playing natural-footed centre-backs to their corresponding position in a back-four (e.g - left-footed Laporte on the left, and right-footed Dias on the right), there is not much need for the 22-year-old in the Premier League's joint-best defence.
And it could be argued that Txiki has already found City's new Kompany-type-figure in club captain Dias.
In other news: Man City now in positive talks to sign £50m "destroyer", Pep will be delighted