Tottenham are still in hot pursuit of Ajax central midfielder Frenkie De Jong despite having a £45million bid rejected, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim Spurs are battle with Manchester United to land the newly-capped Holland international as the race to sign him in the January transfer window hots up.
The Mail report United sent scouts to watch De Jong, 21, in action for Holland in their clash against France in Paris during the recent international break and are keen to use their strong connections with Ajax to negotiate a deal.
Good move for Tottenham?
Yes. De Jong is looking more and more the real deal as each week goes by. He really began to make the big guns of Europe sit up and take notice with his performances last season as he nailed down a regular starting role at Ajax, who have such an outstanding record of producing elite players. Aged 21, the 5ft 11 in (source: Transfermarkt) midfielder is renowned for his dominant displays in the centre of the park, a position where Spurs badly need to strengthen given Mousa Dembele’s age – he turns 32 next year – and Victor Wanyama’s neverending knee problems.
This Is Futbol rating 7/10
Likely to happen?
Robbie Keane claimed this week that Spurs will sign two players at least in the January window after drawing a transfer blank over the summer. Can they win the race for De Jong? It is certainly possible, although the Londoners might have to smash their £42million transfer record to get him. One enormous £45million bid has already been rejected, which is a sign of how highly rated De Jong is.
This Is Futbol rating 5/10