Player ‘closer to Manchester City’ but competition don’t give up chase

Barcelona have agreed a deal with Ajax for Frenkie de Jong and the midfielder will make a switch to the Camp Nou in the summer.

The Netherlands international’s club and country teammate Matthijs de Ligt is another high profile target linked with several clubs across Europe and the defender was one of the first to congratulate De Jong.

In today’s edition of Catalan newspaper Sport, it’s explained the 19-year-old now seems ‘close’ to Manchester City.

That’s the only piece of information mentioned in the report about the Premier League winners as there is no mention whether the club has agreed a fee with Ajax or personal terms with the player.

Sport reports a twist here, which is the centre-back’s preference is to play alongside De Jong with the Spanish champions. Ernesto Valverde’s side are not ready to ‘throw in the towel’ now as they were linked with the centre-back earlier in the season. 

Barcelona have already agreed to sign Jean-Clair Todibo, but they are still not ready to give up on De Ligt.