Manchester City beat Barcelona to £61m-rated midfielder

Manchester City have won the race to sign highly rated Ajax midfielder Frankie De Jong, claims The Daily Mirror.

Pep Guardiola wanted to sign a new central midfielder in the summer but missed out on Fred to Manchester United and Jorginho to Chelsea.

The need to bolster his midfield ranks has been made more pressing by the fact Kevin De Bruyne has only made three substitute appearances in the Premier League this season.

De Jong has emerged as one of the most highly rated midfielders in Europe and turned in an accomplished performance in Netherlands’ surprise 2-0 win over France on Friday night. 

Barcelona have been heavily linked with a move for the 21-year-old but City are now on the verge of signing the Dutchman after pricing their Spanish counterparts out.

Only AZ Alkmaar youngster Teun Koopmeiners (77.5) averages more passes per game than De Jong (72.2) in the Eredivisie this season.