Barcelona will be looking to sustain their success in the coming years, after Ernesto Valverde guided the club to a domestic double last season in his first year in charge.
Their failure in the Champions League was a red mark on the campaign, but ultimately it was a solid start to life on the bench at the Nou Camp and the Spanish tactician will be eager to bolster his squad where possible this summer to continue to compete for major honours.
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With the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Paulinho all around the 30 years of age mark, long-term solutions in midfield will arguably be needed sooner rather than later. Although that’s not to suggest that they don’t have plenty left in the tank still.
In turn, it’s claimed by Mundo Deportivo, that Ajax youngster Frenkie de Jong is pushing to secure a move to join Barcelona in a deal that could cost up to €25m, while it’s added that he has an ‘advanced agreement’ with the La Liga champions already.
That would suggest that an agreement on a transfer fee is essentially all that is standing in the way of a move to Barcelona, and so time will tell if he gets his wish and arrives as a midfield reinforcement for Valverde ahead of next season.
While that would undoubtedly be a boost for Barca, it’s not quite the summer that Ajax would have hoped for, given that they’ve already sold another quality young talent in Justin Kluivert to Roma.
The Dutch giants are seemingly having to cash in on their talented assets, and it remains to be seen whether it’s the right move for the players in question too in terms of if they should have stayed longer to continue their development, or if they’ll flourish in new surroundings.
It remains to be seen if De Jong will be facing that challenge at Barcelona next season…