The €400 million project: How Ajax are set to make wealth on De Ligt, De Jong and others

The Eredivisie side will rake in big profits if they sell the rising stars, who look destined to go on to bigger and better things in the near future

Frenkie de Jong is not happy with his reputation as the new Johan Cruyff, but the 21-year-old midfielder will just have to get used to it as he continues to excel for Ajax and Netherlands.

It seems inevitable that he will become Ajax’s biggest ever sale as Manchester City are prepared to pay €70 million (£62m/$80m) plus €20m (£18m/$23m) in bonuses in order to beat Barcelona to his services.

De Jong had been touted as a Franz Beckenbauer-esque revolutionary defender when he broke into the starting XI last year but he has now become a key component of the Ajax midfield.

He is also quickly blossoming into one of the leading figures in Netherlands’ revitalisation under Ronald Koeman, since his debut in September.

De Jong even showed up N’Golo Kante when he hunted him down to dispossess the Chelsea midfielder in Oranje’s 2-0 win over France, only offering further encouragement to those who expect the Dutchman to become one of the best players in the world.

Matthijs de Ligt
Just a year after Virgil van Dijk became football's most expensive defender, there is already talk of him being usurped by a young compatriot.

Matthijs de Ligt may be just 19 years old but he does not look nor play like it. He is a beast, a boss and will only get better.

A mainstay in the Ajax back line and the team's captain, their only defeat this season – 3-0 to PSV – came in the one game that De Ligt has missed.

He was thrown into the deep end with the national team and endured a disastrous debut against Bulgaria in March 2017, but he emerged seemingly unscathed and has cemented his place in Ronald Koeman's starting XI.

Indeed, he now looks so solid alongside Van Dijk that Koeman and Wesley Sneijder have tipped him to break the latter's record as Oranje's most-capped player.

Barcelona and Manchester City look set to battle it out to sign him in the near future, but a few more of Europe's top sides will be sniffing around too.

Aware that they will not be able to hold on to him for too long, Ajax will listen to offers at the end of the season and will be demanding a massive fee for the potentially world-class defender.

Even if he does not smash Van Dijk's £75 million ($96m) record right away, he won't be far off it.