Manchester City have been linked with a move for Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt ahead of the summer transfer window.

What's the news?

According to a recent report from Calciomercato, the Premier League champions are one of the clubs to whom the Netherlands international could potentially move this summer, should the Bianconeri receive a suitable fee for him.

After working his way through Ajax's youth ranks, the centre-back went on to make 117 senior appearances for the Amsterdam giants across all competitions, scoring 13 goals and providing seven assists along the way.

In 2019, the defender joined Juventus for an initial fee of €75m (£67.8m), making him the most expensive defender in Italian top-flight history.

Since then, the player - who described himself as feeling "invincible" in the Eredivisie - has now made as many appearances for his current club as he did for Ajax.

The next Kompany

In terms of a potential move to the Etihad Stadium, the 22-year-old could become City's new version of Vincent Kompany.

After 359 appearances and numerous domestic trophies, the Belgian left Manchester in 2019 as a club legend with a significant legacy to his name.

While these would certainly be big shoes to fill, De Ligt certainly has the defensive chops to be a solid addition to Pep Guardiola's ranks.

During his time at Juventus, the Dutch centre-back has won 69 tackles, made 137 blocks, 87 interceptions and 371 clearances in Serie A.

Taking into account how Kompany was so impressive for City at the back and ended his spell in the Premier League with a tackle success rate of 75%, among hundreds of interceptions and clearances made, the Netherlands international could be an ideal long-term feature for Guardiola's side given his young age and evident ability.

In February 2020, the late Mino Raiola described the £63m-rated defender as being like an "oil tanker" in terms of being hard to stop when he's on form.

Even though City have the likes of John Stones, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias in their squad, if Guardiola feels the need to add some extra strength at centre-back for the future, securing a deal for De Ligt could be a great bit of prospective business from the Citizens.

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