Real Madrid set to sign Van de Beek in summer for €55m (De Telegraaf)

Donny van de Beek has been very close to becoming a Real Madrid player since the summer, and it seems likely a deal will now be completed by the time the 2020/21 season begins in earnest.

Despite rumoured interest from Manchester United, Los Blancos have long been at the forefront of the race to sign the playmaker, with their interest dating back to the summer of 2019.

As reported by De Telegraaf, everything is ready for the transfer to take place in the summer for a fee of around 55 million euros.

Los Blancos had an agreement with the player as far back as last summer, but for one reason or another the deal simply fell through.

Provided there is no change of opinion or circumstance at board level in Madrid this deal will be completed at the beginning of June.

Van de Beek was central to the Ajax team that unceremoniously dumped Los Merengues out of the Champions League in 2018/19, and has been on the club's radar ever since.

He was as influential in the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, scoring a quite wonderful goal in North London, even though the Amsterdam club were eventually knocked out with the last kick of the tie.

At 22 years old he also fits the Los Blancos transfer policy, although how desperate the Spanish club are for reinforcements in midfield after the emergence of Federico Valverde is actually a little unclear.

As of January 15, there are 26 players in the Real Madrid first team, and there is also the possibility that this number will balloon in the summer once Martin Odegaard, Achraf Hakimi and Takefusa Kubo return from their respective loan spells.

Reinier's arrival is set to be confirmed by the end of the January transfer window, so it's clear that whilst the Van de Beek operation is on the right track, there will need to be some departures.

Luka Modric's future comes into play in this regard, as does that of Isco, although the latter has recently made a dramatic return to the senior squad, impressing once again.

Both Ajax and the Dutch international have rejected proposals from both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to give priority to Real Madrid, and it's now just a case of waiting.