REAL MADRID
Madrid preparing to outbid Barcelona for Frenkie De Jong
According to Dutch newpaper De Telegraaf, Real Madrid are entering the battle with Barcelona for the young Ajax player, Frenkie De Jong.
Real Madrid have joined the battle to sign Barcelona-target Frenkie De Jong, and would be willing to pay €80 million for the young Ajax player, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
De Telegraaf claims that Madrid consider De Jong as one of the possible successors to Luka Modric and want to outbid Manchester United and Barcelona for the 21-year-old midfielder.
The young Dutch international has piqued the interest of several of Europe’s top clubs in recent months, including PSG, Barcelona, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Bayern Munich.
Barcelona, who consider him as a potential future key figure whose traits fit their style of play, made some approaches for him this summer. At the end of August, De Jong confirmed he would stay at Ajax this season, but insinuated a future move to the Camp Nou.
Madrid interest could change the game
But Madrid’s intrusion could be a game changer. Florentino Perez has not made a major investment in quite some time and has the financial resources to outbid the likes of Barcelona and Manchester United for the player.
Furthermore, Julen Lopetegui is a great admirer of young talent and will be aware that at 33, Modric is reaching the twilight years of this career (it is for this reason that he has given prominence to youngsters like Dani Ceballos recently). He may see a versatile midfielder like De Jong as a fitting replacement for the Croatian in the future.
Since joining Ajax from Willem II for €300,000, De Jong’s career has gone from strength to strength, which prompted Ronald Koeman to hand him his competitive debut against Franceearlier this month.
