Frenkie de Jong to PSG: Record transfer to take Barcelona, Man City, Real Madrid and Tottenham target to Paris

Ligue of his own | De Jong looks set to move to PSG
David Rogers/Getty Images
Richard Parry7 December 2018

PSG appear set to win the race to sign Dutch talent Frenkie de Jong from Ajax.

De Jong is one of the most sought-after talents in Europe, and has attracted interest from Barcelona, Man City, Real Madrid and Tottenham.

But according to the latest reports in the Netherlands, the Ligue 1 giants have stolen a march on their competition with an offer that breaks the Eredivisie transfer record which saw Davinson Sanchez move to Tottenham from Ajax for £42million.

De Telegraaf report that PSG will pay €75m (around £66.8m) to bring the talented midfielder to Paris next summer. Willem II – the club where De Jong started his career – will apparently receive around 15% of the transfer fee.

Whether a pre-agreement is announced before then remains to be seen.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Stanley Gontha
AFP/Getty Images/Stanley Gontha

While Barcelona’s interest appears to have cooled, City were seen as the most likely to sign De Jong with Pep Guardiola keen to bolster his midfield options. Guardiola is understood to liken De Jong to Andres Iniesta and Xavi.

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In an interview with the Guardian this week, the 21-year-old opened up about his admiration for Guardiola’s style of play.

“I love this style. Get the ball back quickly, then play possession with so many combinations. When you watch that, you get the feeling you want to go out on the pitch and play football with your friends and just enjoy yourself. City and Barcelona are great examples.”

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

But it would appear that PSG have pipped them to the post for a third time, having snapped up previous City targets Dani Alves and Kylian Mbappe.

Real Madrid have been monitoring De Jong as they consider long-term replacements for Luka Modric.

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Tottenham, like Real Madrid, had identified De Jong as a possible replacement for Mousa Dembele – who is expected to leave the club this summer. But due to the level of rival interest in the player, Spurs would have had to put up a real fight to bring him to London, despite their relationship with Ajax having acquired Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen and Sanchez since 2012.

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