Barcelona Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Frenkie de Jong After Ajax UCL Win
Barcelona's move for Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong has reportedly been delayed after the Eredivisie giants advanced from the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League by beating Austrian side Sturm Graz 5-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
Per Sport, the deal is looking "less and less likely to happen" as Ajax's focus is on qualifying for the group stage, but Barca are hoping director of football Marc Overmars will eventually consider a transfer this month.
The report added that Barca believe the 21-year-old has the "ideal profile to reinforce their midfield" after the departures of Paulinho and Andres Iniesta.
Ajax have made it clear they will not consider selling De Jong until next summer at least, with Overmars recently saying even "an insane amount" of money would not tempt them, per De Telegraaf (h/t Goal's Chris Burton).
Barca are still pushing, but Ajax's ongoing participation in Champions League qualification will not help their cause as the Dutch side will not want to risk their qualification by offloading De Jong.
The two legs of Ajax's third qualifying round against Standard Liege take place on August 7 and 14.
Should they then advance to the play-off round they could confirm their group-stage spot by August 29 at the latest.
That is just two days before the end of the transfer window, and it seems unlikely a deal will be struck in that short a period if it comes down to it.
Barcelona's best hope is that Ajax concede to do business after their next qualifying round.
But it seems likely that, if they want De Jong at the Camp Nou, Barca will need to wait another year to get him.
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