Ajax are a selling club. Academy prospects are either polished into diamonds or players are craftily bought on the cheap and sold for enormous profit – the club have made an estimated €400m in transfer fees in the last decade. Some of these big-money departures – such as Ryan Babel, Vurnon Anita and Davy Klaassen – have failed to live up to their potential, not that that particularly bothers Ajax. Others – such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luis Suárez and Wesley Sneijder – have gone on to be some of the best players in the world. Tottenham have a funny knack of sniffing out the good ones. Christian Eriksen, Dávinson Sánchez and Jan Vertonghen have all trodden the well-worn path from Amsterdam to north London, and if you count Toby Alderweireld’s diversion via Atlético Madrid, some might identify the link between the two clubs as a bit of ‘a thing.’

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Enter Frenkie de Jong, Ajax’s latest hot young talent, who is already reportedly worth more millions (£40m) than he’s made senior appearances (37). In the three matches De Jong has started in this season, Ajax have won them all, scoring 10 in total, conceding none. In the game he didn’t start, they drew. The central midfielder has been linked with Tottenham, as well as a move to Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, but with Ajax back in the Champions League this season, the Dutch club are under no pressure to sell and are well aware that good performances against Bayern Munich, AEK Athens and Benfica in this season’s group stages, may drive the 21-year-old’s price up further.

An absolute certainty during the international break is famous footballers spilling the beans to their a radio station in their home country and Suárez has obliged in Uruguay, explaining that Manchester United’s Paul Pogba would fit right in at Barcelona. “Pogba is an elite player – he has won everything,” Suárez told RAC1. “He has a lot of quality and he is a key player for United. I think he would like to be competing for more [silverware] than he is at the moment. He may not be a Barça player yet, but he would always be welcome.” Yet! The cheek of the man!

With United set to appoint a director of football in the near future, Roma’s Monchi has been touted as a potential option, with the Italian club apparently a little bit upset at his summer business and their spluttering start to the season. Sounds like he’d get on just fine with Ed Woodward.



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After Stuttgart’s 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich on Saturday, Benjamin Pavard has pooh-poohed claims that he has already signed a contract with the German champions. “You journalists said I had signed for Bayern but I am happy at Stuttgart,” the World Cup winner told L’Équipe. “My plan was to stay another season in Germany. I am at a very big club with fantastic fans. I have signed nothing.”

Leicester are reportedly keen to take Danny Drinkwater back to the Midlands in January. The 28-year-old made just five league starts last season for Chelsea after his £35m move, and with Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic arriving this summer – plus Ruben Loftus-Cheek returning from his loan spell – things are looking pretty bleak for Danny at the Bridge.

And in a shock new direction from their previous transfer dealings, Arsenal are chasing a young winger in France, Lille’s Nicolas Pépé, but will face competition for the Ivorian from other Europa League clubs, Sevilla and Real Betis.