The defender appears to be on the verge of completing a switch to the Serie A champions and will not head to Austria with the rest of his team-mates <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Matthijs de Ligt has been left out of Ajax’s squad for their pre-season tour of Austria as a move to Juventus appears to have moved a step closer.<\/p>\n
As reported by Goal,<\/strong> De Ligt has an agreement to join the Serie A club although Juve had been \u20ac10 million (\u00a39m\/$11m) short of Ajax’s asking price for their captain.<\/p>\n Maurizio Sarri’s side\u00a0had\u00a0offered a deal worth \u20ac65m (\u00a358m\/$73m)\u00a0for De Ligt,\u00a0\u20ac55m (\u00a349m\/$62m) up front with \u20ac10m\u00a0in bonuses, although the Dutchman’s omission from the tour squad would suggest talks have advanced further.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n De Ligt’s future has been the subject of much speculation over the summer, with a number of Europe’s top clubs having been interested in signing him at one stage or another.<\/p>\n The likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Barcelona had been keen on landing him, although it would seem that it’s Juve that have\u00a0won the race for the Netherlands international.<\/p>\n And the move appears\u00a0to be\u00a0close to completion after\u00a0the Eredivisie side\u00a0confirmed that De Ligt is not part of their 28-man squad travelling to Bramberg\u00a0in Austria.<\/p>\n A short note from the club on the defender’s absence read: “Awaiting a possible transfer, Matthijs de Ligt does not travel with the group.”<\/p>\n During their pre-season training camp, Ajax will play two practice matches against Istanbul Basaksehir on July 14 and Premier League side Watford on July 18.<\/p>\n De Ligt will not play a part in those games, however, with his final appearance for the club having seen him feature for the full 90 minutes in the 4-1 win over De Graafschap that sealed the Eredivisie title on May 15.<\/p>\n Juve, meanwhile, will be aiming to make a bigger impact in the latter stages of the Champions League having won their eighth Serie A title in a row last season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sarri’s side have already made six summer signings with\u00a0Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey, Gianluigi Buffon, Luca Pellegrini and Merih Demiral all arriving, while\u00a0Cristian Romero was purchased\u00a0from Genoa before being loaned back.<\/p>\n Ajax\u00a0have already taken steps to replace De Ligt by\u00a0bringing in Heerenveen defender Kik Pierie and Lisandro Martinez, while\u00a0Razvan Marin and Quincy Promes have also arrived in the summer.<\/p>\n And De Ligt’s exit will be\u00a0the second major departure from the club, with\u00a0Frenkie de Jong having already joined Barca\u00a0in a \u20ac75m\u00a0(\u00a367m\/$84m) deal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n