Barca lose out on defender, Liverpool to sign world-class striker, Madrid swaps 2 players for Hazard, and more: Transfer roundup, 25 December 2018

By Nishant Jayaram

Modified Dec 25, 2018 16:23 GMT

Ernesto Valverde may have lost out on a major signing

#3 Barcelona no longer interested in defender

Matthijs de Ligt has attracted interest from the top clubs of Europe

It seems that Barcelona are looking to sign a few players in the January transfer window, with one player, defender Jeison Murillo, already confirmed to join the Catalan team on loan from Valencia in January.

We reported yesterday on our La Liga news roundup that Ajax's Frenkie de Jong will be signing with the Catalan team in January, with a personal deal all but agreed.

But one player who will not join the La Liga champions is de Jong's Ajax teammate Matthijs de Ligt, with AS reporting that Barca have backed out of the deal for the 19-year-old as they could no longer afford the wages that he was asking.

The young Dutch defender's agent is Mino Raiola who is reportedly holding out for a better deal for his client, which could see de Ligt move to Bayern Munich or Juventus, according to AS.