Juventus have announced the signing of highly-rated Dutch centre-back Matthijs De Ligt from Ajax.
The 19-year-old, who had previously been linked with Manchester United and Barcelona, has signed a five-year contract with the Serie A champions.
Juve have paid an initial fee of €75 million for a player who helped Ajax reach last season's Champions League semi-finals and win the Eredivisie title, while reaching the Nations League final with Holland.
At the weekend Leiderdorp-born De Ligt was left out of Ajax's squad for their summer tour to Austria pending a transfer and he arrived in Turin on Wednesday to undergo a medical at Juve's headquarters.
Earlier in the summer the Holland international was expected to join Barcelona, who have signed his former Ajax team-mate Frenkie De Jong, while Manchester United and Paris St Germain had reportedly been interested in securing his services.
We fuel adrenaline. We ignite ambition. Are you ready? #LiveAhead#TURNDELIGTON pic.twitter.com/uL0NcrbwUM
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) July 18, 2019
De Ligt joins Cristian Romero, Luca Pellegrini, Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot and Merih Demiral as a new signing at Juve, with recently-appointed head coach Maurizio Sarri also bringing veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon back to Turin ahead of a bid for a ninth consecutive league title for the Bianconeri.
