Ajax tell Barcelona De Jong is not for sale - report

Barcelona have suffered a bit of a blow in their pursuit of Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong as they have been told the 21-year-old is not for sale.

The club made contact with De Jong’s agent and Ajax director Marc Overmars on Sunday but were told they were not interested in letting him leave, according to De Telegraaf.

That seems unlikely to put Barcelona off as De Jong has emerged as a bit of a priority. The club are willing to spend up to €40 million on him and are willing to send him back to Ajax on loan for one season.

The club are also nervous that Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are both interested and want to avoid missing out on De Jong as they already think they’ve lost Rodrygo to Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, De Jong is said to be keen to stay at Ajax for one more season and wants to win the league before leaves.

Barcelona are likely to continue their attempts to land De Jong but it looks as though Ajax will need a lot of convincing to allow of their starlets to depart.