Juventus already have a replacement in mind for de Ligt. The Spanish international stopper could come from La Liga

There has been a lot of talk about Matthijs de Ligt being on his way out. The club itself is also counting on his possible departure, and according to Calciomercato, they have already identified a replacement, which could be the highly-rated Spanish stopper Pau Torres, who plays for Villarreal.

Apparently, De Ligt hasn’t found his promised land at Juventus and the Turin outfit are preparing to sell him before risking his departure for free. That’s a fairly logical reasoning when Ajax paid over €85 million for him three years ago.

Juventus will thus want their investment back at the very least. After all, we are talking about a 22-year-old stopper who can be a leader and is already putting in great performances. He was one of the Old Lady’s highest rated players last season.

De Ligt has played 117 games for the Turin club so far, scoring eight goals and adding three assists. He has won three trophies with Juventus so far – for the winner of the Italian League, the Italian Cup and he also celebrated his triumph in the Italian Super Cup.

The alternative in the form of Pau Torres

So, if indeed someone will pay the required amount for the Dutch stopper, the Old Lady is reportedly ready to bring in the Villarreal star, who has formed a great duo with the very experienced Raúl Albiola.

Only three teams conceded fewer goals than coach Unaie Emery’s team in the past La Liga season. Moreover, in the Champions League, they almost resisted the attacking forays of Juventus (1 goal conceded) and Bayern Munich (1 goal conceded), after which they were downed by Liverpool in the two semi-final matches by 5 goals.

However, it should be added that despite these great defensive numbers, Villarreal finished 7th in the last La Liga season. Moreover, Torres is already 25 years old and a move to the top team this summer would be quite appropriate!

As for the price, Villarreal should ask for 50 million euros, which is certainly a very acceptable amount. Even more so when Juventus will sell de Ligt for an amount in excess of 85 million.

Source: Calciomercato, Marca