Paris Saint-Germain plan to push hard for emerging Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong and beat rivals Barcelona to his signature, according to reports.

De Jong, 21, has emerged as one of Europe’s most-coveted players in 2018. Barca and Tottenham had bids knocked back for him during the summer, with several other clubs also keeping tabs on the new Netherlands cap.

L’Equipe have stated that PSG want to move to the front of this queue. The Ligue 1 champions failed to restock their options in the middle of the park last month, with the recent renewal of Germany international Sami Khedira at Juventus denying them another option.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel has been forced to experiment with moving Brazil centre-back Marquinhos forwards, at times, during 2018/19.