Manchester City in for £75m rated Matthijs de Ligt

The Catalan giants have already signed Ajax's Frenkie De Jong this season, and a bid for another of the club's star players looks highly unlikely. Barcelona had to take out a large loan to cover the cost of buying De Jong, and since they also need to bring in cover for striker Luis Suarez, they seem unlikely to be able to mount a bid for De Ligt.

Barcelona's pulling out of the race opens up a huge opportunity for another club to step in, with Manchester City appearing to lead the race for De Ligt ahead of Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Juventus. One potential problem for the Citizens, however, is that Pep Guardiola has previously fallen out with De Ligt's agent Mino Raiola. If this stumbling block is overcome, City would be in prime position to step in for the Dutch star.