Barcelona are ready to pay Frenkie de Jong €16 million (£14m/$18m) a year in order to beat a host of rivals to the young Ajax midfielder’s signature, Goal understands.
The 21-year-old is one of Europe’s most sought-after young players after impressing in the Ajax midfield since making his debut in 2016.
De Jong’s profile increased still further when he broke into the Netherlands side earlier this campaign and it seems a big-money move is not far away.
Barcelona have long been linked with a move for the talented youngster but face competition from Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
Man City were previously thought to be leading the race after telling Ajax they were willing to pay €70m plus €20m in bonuses to sign De Jong.
However, the Catalan club see De Jong as a key player for the future and are ready to offer bumper personal terms in order to edge ahead of the Premier League champions in the race to sign him.
Barca are willing to offer De Jong a net salary of €10m per season, plus €6m more in relatively easy-to-achieve bonuses based on trophies and appearances.
That would represent a break in their policy of offering young players such high wages but reflects how highly the club’s board rate De Jong and their determination to sign him.
The offer is so good that even De Jong is said to be surprised at how much the Blaugranes are prepared to pay in order to take him to Catalonia.
PSG and Man City remain in the hunt for De Jong but Goal understands that Barcelona are confident the midfielder and his agent are happy with their offer and that he would prefer a move to Camp Nou.
Once they are confident of landing De Jong, Ernesto Valverde’s side are ready to open negotiations with Ajax and would have no issue paying in excess of the reported €70m transfer fee.
De Jong admitted last week that he was growing tired of the speculation about his future and was eager to make a decision quickly and it seems his new club could be decided very soon.