The Netherlands defender insists he will remain with the Eredivisie club until at least the summer
Matthijs de Ligt insists he will not be leaving Ajax in the January transfer window as he looks to lead the club to an Eredivisie title this season.
The 19-year-old defender is captain of the Dutch powerhouse, and his breakthrough with both club and the Netherlands national team has earned him some of the world’s biggest admirers.
Clubs such as Barcelona, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United have all been linked with the centre-half, who is widely expected to depart Ajax for a hefty fee when the time comes.
However, De Ligt insists that move is not imminent and that he expects to stay with Ajax until at least the summer transfer window.
“A move will not be happening this transfer window,” De Ligt told NOS about a potential January exit.
“Ajax fans will not have to worry about that. We want to win the Eredivisie title and will need every player to get there.”
De Ligt was recently recognised with the Golden Boy award, an accolade given to the most promising Under-21 player in Europe.
He beat out the likes of Roma winger Justin Kluivert, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, AC Milan forward Patrick Cutrone and Real Madrid teenager Vinicius Junior to the most recent award.
De Ligt is under contract with Ajax until 2021 and, despite the swirling rumours, insists that he is focused on helping the team get better for the title push as the club begin a winter training camp in Florida.
“For example, residual defence,” De Ligt said, “that kind of thing is very important for our way of playing, which we will pay attention to this week.”
Ajax currently sit second in the Eredivisie, two points behind leaders PSV at the midway point of the league season.
De Ligt and Ajax return to league play on January 20 against Heerenveen, but first the club will play friendlies against Flamengo and Sao Paulo as part of their winter break.