Paris Saint-Germain reportedly are in the lead, ahead of Manchester City in the race for Ajax midfielder, Frenkie de Jong.
The 21-year-old is valued at £66m by the Eredivisie outfit and PSG are the only side who can match their asking price. Reports earlier claimed that City were not expecting to sign any players this January despite drawing strong links to de Jong.
Pep Guardiola stated that it is always difficult to compete against European heavyweights. He said, “I’m not talking about the case of the Ajax player because he is an Ajax player. But if you want one and many, many clubs want him it’s more complicated, especially if it’s Real Madrid or Barcelona.”
“Normally when you are involved with Madrid and Barcelona you are going to lose. You have to be quicker and more efficient. I’m making a statement in general about when many teams want a player that it’s more complicated.”
De Jong was being considered by the Citizens to be a long-term replacement for the highly impactful Fernandinho. The latter absence through injury has been thoroughly felt by Guardiola and a backup option seems to be necessary for the long run.
De Jong himself has expressed interest in playing under the Premier League winning boss but also stated that he will not be leaving Ajax this month. The defensive midfielder told Ajax’s Twitter account, “I am certainly not leaving this winter. I am 100 per cent staying until the summer. I don’t know what other people are doing, but personally, I would like it if the whole group stay together.”
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