:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59574533/GettyImages_952179038.0.jpg)
The summer transfer window won’t open for a while, but that hasn’t stopped the gates of batcountry from opening wide. One of the strongest links to Tottenham Hotspur have involved Matthijs de Ligt, the 18-year old Ajax center back and former teammate of Davinson Sanchez.
De Ligt is one of the highest rated defensive prospects in Europe right now, and considering how often Spurs have gone to the Ajax well in recent years, the links are obvious.
But someone should probably tell that to Matthijs de Ligt.
Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt quizzed by FOX Sports about rumours he is joining Tottenham.
— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) April 30, 2018
"I do not know anything about it. And my agent does not know anything about it."
That’s not too surprising. Usually transfer rumors are all speculative at this stage of the season, and de Ligt’s comments probably don’t mean much right now. Spurs probably do have de Ligt on a list of possible defensive additions and it just hasn’t filtered down Or, it could mean that this is all media-driven nonsense, Spurs aren’t really interested in de Ligt at all, and we’re all following a fool’s errand. Could be either one! Or something in between!
De Ligt would be one of those Tottenham signings that bank on huge potential and development. There are good reasons to target him. He’s already a very good defender for someone so young — FourFourTwo listed him as #8 on their list of 100 Best Teenagers in the World last November — and as a former defensive partner of Davinson Sanchez he would come to Spurs with both first team experience and experience playing with an established Spurs first teamer.
On the other hand, with the likely departure of Toby Alderweireld this summer, signing de Ligt would mean Spurs’ defense next season would consist of Old Man Jan Vertonghen and a bunch of kids — Sanchez (21), Juan Foyth (20), de Ligt (18), and Cameron Carter-Vickers (20). Sure, there’s Eric Dier in there as well, but that’s a pretty young and inexperienced defensive stable for a team that wants to compete for a Premier League title next season.
Pochettino is apparently an admirer, but it’s still ludicrously early in the process and we probably shouldn’t read too much into the fact that nobody from Spurs has made contact. If they want to, they will. In the meantime, sleep well and dream of large center-halves.