Real Madrid won't meet Ajax's 65 million euro asking price for Van de Beek Real Madrid Willing to pay up to 50 million euros

Donny van de Beek's breakthrough season with Ajax has seen him linked with some of Europe's top clubs, most notably Real Madrid.

It's no secret that Los Blancos are interested in bringing the Dutchman to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu if they're unable to sign Paul Pogba.

The midfielder played a starring role as Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and Real Madrid want him to replace the outgoing Marcos Llorente, and possibly Dani Ceballos.

Pogba is the dream

Real Madrid's board, in agreement with Zinedine Zidane, have sounded out Van de Beek as a Plan B to Pogba. In fact, some of the club's directors are edging towards a move for the Dutchman due to his relatively low cost compared to Pogba.

Van de Beek is keen on a move to the Bernabeu, but Real Madrid are finding it difficult to do business with Ajax. The Eredivisie champions don't need to sell after letting Frenkie de Jong move to Barcelona, while Matthijs de Ligt has reportedly finalised terms with Juventus and seems set to join for around 75 million euros.

As a result, they've slapped a 65m euro price tag on Van de Beek, a figure that Real Madrid hope to lower during negotiations.

Paris Saint-Germain, who are able to stretch their purse strings a little more than Real Madrid at present, are also tracking the midfielder.

Timing of the deal

Any move for Van de Beek is far from being done. Real Madrid are still waiting on Pogba's situation at Manchester United to be cleared up, with the Frenchman having already admitted that he'd like to leave this summer.

Pogba will ask the Red Devils to help facilitate his departure when he returns for pre-season training next week. That will be when Real Madrid make a move for Van de Beek as they hope to take his asking price down from 65m euros to 50m euros.

Van de Beek scored 17 goals and provided 13 assists for Ajax during the 2018/19 season, including four goals and two assists in the Champions League.