De Ligt focused on Ajax as Barca speculation mounts

Matthijs de Ligt insists he is focused only on Ajax despite reports he could follow team-mate Frenkie de Jong’s example and sign for Barcelona. 

De Jong ended months of speculation on Wednesday when it was announced he will join Barca in June on a five-year contract, the LaLiga club paying an initial €75million fee to sign the midfielder. 

His Ajax colleague De Ligt has also been linked with a host of Europe’s leading clubs but has played down suggestions he could also swap Amsterdam for Barcelona at the end of the season. 

“I can’t stop journalists talking about that, it’s part of football,” he said after Ajax’s 3-1 cup victory over Heerenveen on Thursday. 

“Now that Frenkie has completed his transfer, it [the speculation] can happen to me, but the only thing that interests me is Ajax. That’s the only thing I’m working on. 

“I’m just going to do my own thing and everything will work out if I do that. I think anyone would like to play for Barcelona at some point in their career. 

“We’ll see where I end up, but for now I’m very happy at Ajax and I hope to have a good season here. Or seasons, maybe. 

“I think it’s great for Frenkie to go to Barcelona. He deserves it and it’s great that he was able to settle this issue, although in reality the negotiations didn’t bother him much.” 

As for De Jong, ending all the chatter about his own future came as a relief and he now hopes to play with freedom in his final few months at Ajax. 

“It’s nice that I have peace and can play football freely,” he told Fox Sports. “Now everyone can go and focus on Matthijs de Ligt!”