BARCELONA are out to hijack Bayern Munich’s move for Sergino Dest after failing with two bids for Max Aarons.
A new right-back is on the Blaugrana agenda as Ronald Koeman looks to revamp his aging squad.
United States international Dest was born in the Netherlands and raised through Ajax’s academy, playing 36 times for the club.
And his performances have caught the eye of Europe’s biggest teams, including Bayern and Barcelona.
According to Bild, the Bundesliga champions have agreed personal terms with Dest but are yet to persuade Ajax to sell up.
That leaves room for Barcelona to make a bid, which Mundo Deportivo believe will focus on a loan deal with an obligation to buy.
On Saturday, SunSport revealed the Catalans’ desire to sign Dest having failed with two bids for Aarons.
Norwich rebuffed an offer topping £20million for the 20-year-old despite suffering relegation from the Premier League.
Reportedly set to leave Barcelona is Nelson Semedo with an unnamed club said to have bid around £40m for the Portuguese defender.
Replacing Semedo with Dest, 19, would leave the struggling LaLiga giants with a healthy profit with Ajax wanting around £15m for Dest.
Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag has insisted he would like Dest to remain in Amsterdam, telling reporters on Friday: “He is an Ajax player, he has trained and we are going to prepare for RKC.
“I can’t say anything about it, there is a lot of interest in all of our players. Dest has developed well so it’s not surprising there is interest.”
He added: “Bayern Munich is a very nice club in Europe. I focus on Ajax and the development of Ajax.
“I want [Dest] to stay. If there is a different outcome, we’ll have to change things around.”
