How much it would cost Barça to land De Ligt and De Jong
The Ajax duo are hot property in European football right now
Ajax Amsterdam are traditionally a selling club. If in the past they sold their players for a moderate fee, that's no longer the case in a market which benefits sellers.
Proof of that is in the sale of Colombian defender Davinson Sánchez. Two years ago they paid five million euros to sign him from Atlético Nacional and last year they sold him to Tottenham for 45 million. An extraordinary piece of business.
Overmars, THE KEY
Now, it's anothe centre-back wanted by Barcelona, who have been impressed by Matthijs de Ligt and see him as the perfect solution to a potential problem: if Samuel Umtiti has to undergo surgery, he will be out for four months.
Barça want De Ligt in January, despite not having previously planned to sign mid-season. Athletic and mature beyond his 19 years, the Dutch international has already proven a leader and impressed against Bayern Munich this month.
His price, according to the current value of the market, would be 50 million euros. It's an amount which will no doubt keep going up as he gets better and better.
Now it depends on if Ajax are prepared to sell one of the pillars of thei team. It may depend on how they do in the Champions League. Marc Overmars, an ex FC Barcelona player and Ajax's sporting director, has the key.
Both in terms of De Ligt and midfielder Frenkie de Jong. The latter has been on FC Barcelona's agenda since Robert Fernández recommended signing him. Other European clubs are also keen and Manchester City's Txiki Begiristain has made an offe: 80 million now and he stays with Ajax until next summer.
Given it is all a question of supply and demand, if FC Barcelona want to sign both Ajax's starlets, it would cost them around 130 million. To make way for that type of spend, they wold have to show that they can sell again. This past summer, Barca made more than they spent.
