Frenkie is City Jong-term bet

EXCLUSIVE by DAVID ANDERSON MANCHESTER CITY will have to pay a club record £75m to land Holland and Ajax star Frenkie De Jong.

City have made the 21-year-old their top transfer target after scouring the world for a central midfielder.

They identified De Jong after losing out to Chelsea for Jorginho in the summer and feel the Dutchman is capable of becoming Fernandinho’s long-term successor at the Etihad.

Barcelona are also very keen on De Jong, while several other top clubs are monitoring his rapid progress this season.

Ajax feel they can demand up to £75m for De Jong because of this growing interest in him.

This means City would have to eclipse the club record £60m they paid Leicester for Riyad Mahrez in the summer.

Ajax’s hand is also strengthened by the fact that De Jong is under contract until June 2022.

They are against losing De Jong in January and will not consider cashing in on him until next summer at the earliest.

De Jong (below) only won his first Holland cap under Ronald Koeman in September.

But he has established himself as a key member of the team in his four appearances and has been likened to the legendary Johan Cruyff in his homeland because of his style.

De Jong was part of the Dutch team which came from two goals down to earn a dramatic late draw against Germany on Monday and seal a spot in the Nations League finals.

From Page 46 publicly available”. The England international denies ever gambling on football.

Meanwhile, FA chiefs want to cut the number of foreign players in the Premier League – even if Brexit does not happen.

The FA has drawn up plans relating to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union which would see the number of non-homegrown players cut from 17 to 13 per team.

The FA will pursue that course regardless of whether Brexit happens as they look to increase the number of English players in the top flight.

The Government has asked the FA, the Premier League and Football League clubs to agree a joint policy.

But the FA believes it is in a position of strength.

All parties want to avoid the nightmare “no deal” Brexit scenario which would mean EU players would have to fulfil the same criteria as non-EU players to get a work permit.