Saturday morning saw claims from the Catalan media that Manchester United and Tottenham had initiated contact over signing Ajax’s Donny van de Beek.
The midfielder was said to be holding out for Barcelona, but they had no intention of meeting his €55m asking price, and he wasn’t a priority for them anyway.
Van de Beek was then left out of Ajax’s squad for a friendly match, with the Dutch club making it clear it was transfer related. Then the claims inevitably grew.
Strangely the biggest ones were again coming from the Catalan media, with Mundo Deportivo saying everything indicated a move to Manchester United would happen, and Sport claiming Van de Beek had told his teammates he’s moving to Old Trafford.
Dutch reports were a little calmer, and there was a suggestion Tottenham are still in the race.
NOS (a Dutch public broadcaster) now reports Manchester United seems to be his destination, but they say no deal has been agreed with Ajax yet. There’s also no agreement yet on personal terms, but NOS state the transfer is ‘expected to be completed soon’.
They report talks are continuing on Sunday evening, and Van de Beek has ‘opted for the Red Devils’.
He’s set to join up with the Netherlands national team on Monday.
