Further speculation was sparked earlier this week after Patrick Kluivert shared an image of himself, his two sons and Matthijs de Ligt in Barcelona.
As noted by The Mirror, the Catalan giants are keeping tabs on the 18-year-old starlet, with a view of potentially bolstering their defence.
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It’s an area that arguably needs attention, as beyond Samuel Umtiti and Gerard Pique, Barca have an inexperienced Yerry Mina and ageing stalwart in Thomas Vermaelen in reserve.
In turn, adding De Ligt to the squad would be a sensible move, although it raises debate from his perspective as he’s perhaps better off staying at Ajax a while longer and benefiting from gaining experience and playing regularly.
With the image below though, Kluivert Sr. got everyone talking as he was pictured with his sons and De Ligt in Barcelona during the international break, and unsurprisingly that led to fresh rumours that perhaps work was being done on possible transfers for the pair.
However, the Ajax youngster has now moved to dismiss that talk, and insisted that he was merely in Spain on holiday enjoying the break before returning to action for Ajax this weekend when they face Groningen.
“I was on vacation with friends,” he is quoted as saying by Mundo Deportivo. “I know that people now think that I will go there for something else, but I booked this vacation for some time. They gave me two days off and I used it to recharge my battery.”
It remains to be seen whether or not a transfer to Barcelona does materialise in the future, but for now, taking his word for it, it appears as though it was indeed an innocent trip to Spain.