Barcelona and Netherlands goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen has claimed that Ajax’s emerging young talents Frenkie De Jong and Matthijs De Ligt would be open to a move to the Catalan giants.
Reports have suggested that both midfielder De Jong and centre-back De Ligt are on Barcelona’s radar, with Manchester City also holding an interest in the Dutch pair.
Cillesen briefly played with De Ligt at Ajax and has revealed that he’s spoken about a potential move to Barca with the 19-year-old, who is building an impressive partnership with Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk at international level.
When asked about a potential move to Barcelona for the Dutch pair, De Ligt told Sport: “Everybody in the national team would like to play for Barcelona because it’s one of the best teams in the world.
“I didn’t play with De Jong at Ajax, but I did play with De Ligt for a few weeks, because he came up to the first team in the summer of 2016. I was able to work with him that pre-season, before coming to Barca. He’s a player with a lot of quality and is only 19.
“He’s physical, strong, mentally strong, especially if you see the (Netherlands) game against Germany. In the first half he didn’t go so well, but he recovered in the second half, he was excellent in the second half. He was also excellent against Bayern Munich in the Champions League for Ajax.
“I spoke with him about (Barcelona), he has the level, but he’s still 19 years old … I don’t know because (Marc) Overmars is in charge at Ajax, so I don’t know what he wants. I also read he’s not going anywhere (in January).”
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It’s been a difficult few years for the Dutch national team, who failed to qualify for both Euro 2016 and the most recent World Cup in Russia earlier this year.
Former Southampton and Everton manager Ronald Koeman is now at the helm and there have been signs that the Oranje are heading in the right direction again.
The most recent international break saw them beat Germany 3-0, with De Ligt and De Jong both starring, as well as 20-year-old PSV winger Steven Bergwijn and Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake, who is still just 23.
Liverpool pair Van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum are among the senior players in the team, as well as Lyon’s Memphis Depay.
The next international break will see them take on France and Germany again in November.
The post De Jong and De Ligt will be tempted by Barcelona move, says Dutch teammate appeared first on Squawka News.
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