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What's the rumour?
Tottenham may have failed to sign a single player this summer but they have already started thinking in advance for the next summer and are scouting Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong ahead of a possible next summer' signing, claims the Express.
In case you didn't know...
The Dutch Under-21 international helped Ajax reach the Europa League final in 2017 and is rated as one of the best emerging talents in Netherland at present.
The Spanish giants Barcelona had De Jong on their wishlist over the summer as they sought to add another midfielder to their already star-studded squad but nothing actually worked out in the end.
The heart of the matter
The 21-year-old who was voted Jupiler League talent of the season in 2017, has been the subject of interest for many big European clubs lately. He was heavily tipped to join Barcelona this summer but nothing happened on that front.
The £40 million star is apparently in no hurry to ply his trade abroad at such an early stage of his career and is happy to stay at his current club as of now.
"Maybe someday I'll join Barcelona, but not this season," De Jong said after Ajax's Champions League qualifying win over Dynamo Kiev.
"I have already played a binding match for Ajax.
"I’m staying at Ajax.
"I think it will be a good year.”
If the aforementioned report is to be believed Spurs want to sign the Dutchman next summer and have already made progress about a possible deal.
Rumour rating/ Probability: 4/10
With next summer's transfer window a long time away, it would be outright foolish to predict at this juncture as to which way this will go. And then there is this unreliability factor with every Daily express story. We're going with a 4 out of 10 for this one.
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What's next?
Ajax will be up against AEK Athens, Bayern Munich and Benfica in the Champions League group stage and the midfielder has to bring his A-game to the fore in order for them to advance further in the competition.
