Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong has been linked with a move to Barcelona and the Catalan club’s initial plan was to agree a deal with the Dutch club to block his transfer for the future.
The La Liga winners were planning to allow the 21-year-old to continue his development with his current employers, before bringing him to Camp Nou in 2019. However, things are likely to change if today’s edition of Mundo Deportivo is to be believed.
The Catalan newspaper claims Barcelona “must make a major decision” in the coming weeks regarding De Jong. The Spanish club’s general manager Pep Segura and former technical secretary Robert Fernandez had held talks with the midfielder’s agent to block his transfer.
He was not the priority target for the Spanish champions in this year’s transfer window. However, his decision to not wait until 2019 has made them “bet directly on his signing” this summer.
Ajax have already lost Justin Kluivert to AS Roma and they are unlikely to want to lose another talented player in the same window. Therefore, the Dutch club want to retain De Jong for next season as they look to challenge for the title and play in the Champions League.
The only option available for Barcelona is to bring De Jong to the club after the end of next season. This suits both the clubs involved, but not the player, who wants to make a switch to Spain in the summer transfer window.
