Transfer Update: Manchester City Target Set for PSG?

Manchester City have been involved in trying to secure a transfer deal for the Ajax wonder kid Frenkie de Jong since last summer and have long been considered the front runners in the chase

City joined a small group of Clubs who were apparently given permission by Ajax to speak with the player and made an offer. As part of this offer City presented the project under Guardiola and how they saw De Jong as the successor to the pivot role within the successful team.

However the group of other interested clubs included Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain. Although at the time Barcelona seemed to be resigned to losing their transfer target to City. For much of the last 6 months City were rumoured to be the main interested club and the deal was suggested as being close because the player favoured the project under Guardiola and the opportunities it presented.

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However the situation would appear to have changed in recent weeks. It is not clear if City have in fact cooled their stance or if other factors such as FFP have come into play. Guardiola has given several transfer updates which suggest there may be problems in the background with the transfer policy, publicly stating the club cannot compete with others in terms of wages.

Ajax appear keen to resolve the transfer saga and seem to be pressing for any deal to be finalised so that they can concentrate upon the remainder of their season without further distraction. City have always seemed keen to conclude any deal in the Summer rather than January, probably wanting to place any expenditure into their next set of accounts.

In the background the rumour of the increased offer from Paris Saint Germain has bubbled and most media are now reporting a deal has been agreed between PSG and the player and between PSG and Ajax. There is the suggestion the price of the deal has been increased to £75 million following the PSG offer and consequently City have cooled their interest. Certainly there is a history of City refusing to engage in transfers where the cost escalates after agreement has already been reached. Similar happened with both Sanchez and Jorginho.

There is also a suggestion that any deal has to also include a hefty agent fee in addition to the transfer cost and in recent years City have refused to be part of such deals like Sanchez and Van Dijk.

The surprising thing here is that De Jong seems to be exactly the kind of player City need to build their side around going forward and failure to acquire this target now seems misguided. Although £75 million for a 21 year old seems astronomical now, it may appear to be a drop in the ocean the next time a premium target becomes available.

Still, the Manchester City player recruitment team will have more knowledge then we do on the intricacies of the deal and given their successes in building our squad in recent years, we should have trust they will deliver what is required.