Catalan radio station, RAC1 claims that Barcelona are set to miss out on Ajax youngster, Frenkie de Jong. The La Liga champions have pulled out of negotiations for the defensive midfielder due to a disagreement over the transfer fee. Now, we have to wait and see if the Blaugrana revisits their interest over the 21-year-old in January or next summer.
This could potentially be a slight tug at the club’s youth setup. With Marlon Santos being linked with a number of European outfits, de Jong could have been the right figure to replace the Brazilian.
de Jong made 26 appearances for the Lancers in the 2017/18 season to score once and assist a further 9. He is versatile with his positioning, having appeared in both midfield and defensive roles during his career. The youngster has been capped 14 times for the Netherlands youth sides with one goal to his name.
de Jong is a product of the Willem II Academy with 3 games under his belt for the club’s senior side. The Arkel-born man made his professional debut for ADO Den Haag before signing for Ajax in 2015. He appeared in 46 games for the reserves also known as Jong Ajax to win the 2016/17 Jupiler League’s Talent Of The Season award.
Now he has close to 40 games under his belt for de Godenzonen during which he has registered 2 goals and 9 assists in total. Standing at 5 feet 11 inches, de Jong has the athletic built to be really impactful from any part of the defence.
He has made a name for himself at the Johan Cruyff Arena and could have been a leading figure in the Barcelona ranks in the future. The Catalan giants already have Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermaelen and Yerry Mina in their squad.
However, with Vermaelen mostly tied to the sidelines with injury and Mina still trying to prove his worth to Ernesto Valverde, it would not be the worst move to look for alternative options.
Here are a few players that the Camp Nou-based outfit should consider.
Mousa Dembele
If there is a hunt going on for a defensive midfield presence no one should leap over the Belgian’s name. He is close to sealing his departure from Tottenham Hotspur and maybe Barcelona should consider making a surprise offer.
Danilo
The 22-year-old plies his trade for OGC Nice and has a contract set to run until the summer of 2021. He is an able figure who can fill out the anchor role in midfield and is slowly developing into a promising star.
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Konrad Laimer
He plays for RB Leipzig and is a hard-hitting defensive presence in the central midfield. At 21, he has already developed into a prominent figure in the Bundesliga.
