Paris Saint-Germain confident of beating Barcelona to De Jong’s signature

Paris Saint-Germain believe they are the frontrunners to sign Ajax starlet Frenkie de Jong ahead of Manchester City and Barcelona, claims ESPN.

De Jong has emerged as one of the most sought after midfielders in Europe this season after developing into one of the best prospects in the continent.

Barcelona and City have both at one point considered themselves favourites to sign De Jong at the end of the season but now PSG are in pole.

City started the season hoping to sign De Jong in January but are now considering alternatives due to his escalating valuation.

Guardiola has already ruled out spending £100m on a defensive midfielder and PSG are reportedly pushing his price tag towards that sum.

Barcelona are understood to have reached an agreement with PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot, paving the way for PSG to push ahead with a move for De Jong.

Thomas Tuchel is desperate to strengthen his midfield options this month but will more than likely have to wait until the summer to get De Jong, who has been promised a starting role with the French giants.

It is still unclear whether PSG will face any Financial Fair Play sanctions and that could still derail their pursuit of De Jong, particularly given the finances involved.

The 21-year-old averages more passes per game than any other player in Eredivisie this season (80.1), while also boasting an impressive 92.2% pass success rate.