Barcelona-bound De Jong aiming for dream Ajax farewell in Eredivisie & Champions League

Dom Farrell

Barcelona-bound De Jong aiming for dream Ajax farewell in Eredivisie & Champions League image

Frenkie de Jong has eyes on a glorious treble to bring down the curtain on his Ajax career. 

Netherlands midfielder De Jong will join Barcelona in a €75 million (£65m/$85m) switch, although that huge move being on the horizon has done little to disrupt his or Ajax's rhythm. 

Erik ten Hag's side have seen off Real Madrid and Juventus to storm into the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they take on Tottenham in London in the first leg on Tuesday. 

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The battle for the Eredivisie is set to go to the wire, where Ajax top the table but are level on points with PSV with two rounds of fixtures remaining, while De Jong's boyhood club Willem II await in the KNVB Beker final. 

Asked for his best memory at Ajax in an interview with the club's official podcast, De Jong replied: "Hopefully it's yet to come – when we win the next six games, we win the treble. It could be. 

"We made it this far in the Champions League for a reason. In the Eredivisie we're on top and we're in the cup final. I'm not sure we'll win all prizes, but it sure is possible." 

Despite accounting for a pair of European heavyweights in the previous round, Tottenham's Premier League pedigree means De Jong does not believe he and his team-mates can be considered favourites in the semi-final. 

"I don't think we are the favourites. They play in the Premier League and do it very well," the 21-year-old said.  

"On paper we aren't better than them, but also not much worse. It doesn't matter who's the favourite, as long as we make it to the next round." 

Frenkie de Jong Ajax Barcelona

As Barcelona prepare to take on Liverpool in this week's second semi-final, De Jong knows his final game for Ajax could be a dream encounter against his future employers. 

"I'll go there with a lot of enthusiasm," he said of an impending transfer to Catalunya.

"I'm very excited and have to make sure that I train well and play well. Hopefully I quickly become a first-XI player.

"Marc Overmars and I talked a lot before the transfer was sealed.

"I was in doubt about next year and he called me. That was not the decision-maker, but it might have helped.

"He told me he thinks Barcelona is a good club for me. He played there and told me life is good there. That helped me.

"Marc was always important for me, because he gave me his confidence. Together we gained a lot of money for Ajax, so him bringing me to Ajax worked pretty well."

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.