Matthijs de Ligt has an agreement with Juventus. The Dutch defender finally agreed to a contract offer of €12 million net per year over the next five years, plus bonuses. A key factor in the Dutch wonderkid agreeing to the move is that Juventus inserted a €150 million release clause into the contract.Sky Sports understand that de Ligt was strongly in favour of having such a clause in any contract he signed, so that in the future he would be in control of his own destiny, assuming another club was willing to meet his buyout clause. PSG, who were Juventus’ main competitors for the Dutchman’s signature, were unable to offer de Ligt a similar clause, as release clauses are illegal in French football.The second factor in Juve’s favour was that of Cristiano Ronaldo. As a child de Ligt had Ronaldo’s name emblazoned on the back of his shirt, and the prospect of linking up with him in Turin was simply too good for him to turn down, “I always wanted to be Cristiano Ronaldo when we played soccer in the garden. Especially during the period when he played at Manchester United. Even my first football shirt was his.”