Tottenham have expressed concrete interest in Ajax's highly-rated midfielder Frenkie De Jong and are ready to rival several European clubs for his signature.
Barcelona are in the driving seat, having provisionally agreed a deal with Ajax to sign the 21-year-old Dutchman, but Tottenham have plans to hijack their move and have informed the club they are also interested.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Premier League side have now entered the race for De Jong, who is also attracting interest from Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Roma and Borussia Dortmund.
The youngster, who has been called up to the Holland senior side but is yet to make his debut, impressed last season after breaking into Ajax's first team and is understood to be valued in the region of £40million.
Mauricio Pochettino is very particular when it comes to bringing in new recruitments as it showed this summer with no new signings, but the Tottenham boss is a huge fan of De Jong and is the driving force behind the club's interest.
Tottenham would consider a January move for the midfielder, but may be put off with the player keen for a full season in the Eredivisie before making a decision about his future next summer.
De Jong will have a number of options open to him, but Barca remain the favourites to land his signature and are confident he will be at the Nou Camp next season.
Their technical secretary Eric Abidal has spoke with De Jong and his representatives several times in recent months and the player has previously publicly expressed a desire to play alongside Lionel Messi.
PSG will however try to use their pulling power in the transfer market to lure De Jong to the French capital and will battle Barca and Tottenham for his services.
