Juventus have started working on their summer transfer business and it is not just new signing who they need to sort out.

Some of the club’s key players have expiring contracts that need to be extended, and the Bianconeri must do that to protect their value.

One player that the club doesn’t want to lose for anything is Matthijs de Ligt. The Dutchman is the most valuable defender at the Allianz Stadium now, and his current deal expires in 2024.

Juve wants to extend it to protect his market value, and the former Ajax man is open to that.

However, he wants them to lower his current release clause. Football Italia claims he will happily sign a contract extension until 2025, but he is insisting on getting a lower release clause before putting pen to paper.

Juve FC Says

We cannot lose De Ligt for free or on a cheap transfer fee because the Dutchman is clearly one of the best defenders in the world, and he would get better.

Ideally, we should be looking for a longer-term commitment from him because Leonardo Bonucci could follow Giorgio Chiellini to leave the club soon.

If that happens, De Ligt will become our only main defender, and he should remain for the long-term unless we want a rebuild of our backline.