Manchester City Transfer News: Frenkie de Jong Offer Reported Amid Rumours

Manchester City are the latest club said to be taking a serious interest in Ajax star Frenkie de Jong, and the Citizens are reportedly planning a January offer after having a £50 million bid rejected in the summer.

Simon Mullock of the Mirror wrote that Pep Guardiola's side are interested in the 21-year-old as they seek the successor to midfield linchpin Fernandinho.

The Brazil international turned 33 towards the end of last season and has a little more than 18 months remaining on his contract. He has been a crucial figure in City's engine room for five years, and Guardiola is understood to be hopeful of recruiting Fernandinho's heir before the end of this season.

De Jong is at the opposite end of the spectrum and is impressing early in his career. His made his UEFA Champions League debut in Ajax's group opener on Wednesday, a 3-0 win over AEK Athens. Fan account Dutch Football highlighted the versatile De Jong's confident display:

City are understood to be battling local rivals Manchester United and Barcelona for the player's signature. The latter had a €30 million (£27 million) bid for the player rejected in the summer, per Goal's Ignasi Oliva Gispert. De Jong recently told Ziggo Sport of his intention to one day play alongside Lionel Messi:

"If you end up in a club of a higher level, you will play with world-class players anyway. But I would really like to play with Messi someday. We were on vacation in Spain and my grandfather bought me Messi's shirt with the 30, his shirt number then. My grandfather knew that I liked Messi and I wore that shirt all the time. Of course I would like to play with him. He's already 31, so I have to hurry up."

De Jong, who's comfortable in central defence as well as his favoured deep-lying midfield role, looks like a rare talent for his age, but statistician Simon Gleave was recently eager to cool hype in the player:

The difference in value between City and Barcelona's offers suggests the Premier League outfit are more seriously interested—or at least more ready to relay that in their offer.

Ajax sporting director Marc Overmars hinted at as much earlier in September and aimed a slight towards his former club for not bringing a big-enough offer to the table, per Sport: "Barca did not value De Jong. The offer did not correspond to Frenkie's qualities. They could come back for Frenkie in January, but our players will not leave during this period."

Those comments suggest even City would struggle to tempt the Dutch titans into selling their latest star product midway through the season. 

Statman Dave pointed to evidence as to why he would fit in at the Etihad Stadium:

Bleacher Report's Matt Jones recently shared his appraisal of the Netherlands international:

It's easy to see how De Jong, whose talents in passing and possession, not to mention his ability to play at centre-back, would be an attractive purchase. But it seems Ajax want a major fee for their new gem.

Last season's Eredivisie runners-up aren't under any pressure, either, given De Jong's contract runs until 2022, meaning City, United and Barca could be in for a protracted tug of war for his talents.