Manchester City hope to have an edge on rivals in the chase for Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

The Sun says City hope to seal a £62million deal for Dutch wonder-kid De Jong in January – by letting him stay at Ajax until the summer.

City have been tailing the young midfielder for months, but their interest has so far been knocked back.

Now they are willing to nail down an agreement in the next window – which would include a potential £18m more in clauses in bonuses – that brings him to the Etihad next season.

And for all their resistance so far, that would take the fee to a figure Ajax would find hard to refuse.

De Jong is on the radar for some of Europe's biggest clubs, with Barcelona among them, although crucially the Spaniards are not keen on paying above £50m.