Ajax starlet Frenkie De Jong agrees deal with Barcelona

Frenkie de Jong is now a step away from Barcelona. The Blaugrana have taken a big leap forward in the push for the Ajax midfielder in recent weeks. De Jong has now given the OK to the club’s proposals, waiting for the two sides to reach an agreement for his fee. Barca wanted to put a reservation on the player, who has always shown his willing to play at Camp Nou, to try and negotiate a lower fee. Half the work is done.

Barca have been in constant contact with De Jong and his people since the summer. Ajax didn’t want to negotiate earlier because they don’t want to sell their star players. Barca have agreed with them that they can move for De Jong in June 2019 if the player wants to go - which he does.

His agent has spoken to various clubs. The player wanted to listen to offers on the market and met with Man City, Bayern Munich and PSG. All the economic proposals were astronomic but De Jong wanted to prioritise Barca. Two weeks ago his agent headed to Barcelona to get a written, concrete offer. They wanted Barca to take a final decision.

Barca said they could not equal the other offers but they did offer him a five-year deal with a rising salary. it was a clear demonstration that they believe De Jong has a big potential. Now just that. Barca promised, once an agreement was reached, they would make Ajax a big offer to seal the deal. De Jong has always made it clear he wants to leave in the right way.

Officially Barca say the signing is “totally on course”. And they say that because they have the OK from the player, although publicly they will say nothing until there is a deal between the two clubs. Other teams interested have thrown in the towel.

Ajax wanted at least 75m euros for De Jong, a fee Barca considered excessive. Barca are willing to pay 60m euros. A potential deal for De Ligt could come into it too. If they are getting a lot for him, they may lower their price for De Jong. Barca believe that in the end, they will reach an agreement.