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Report: City balk at Frenkie de Jong deal as PSG interest inflates price

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Manchester City, at one point football's biggest spenders, are likely to miss out on Ajax prodigy Frenkie de Jong as interest from Paris Saint-Germain has inflated the midfielder's price, according to The Telegraph's James Ducker.

City had been thought to be leading the chase for De Jong and fighting Barcelona for his signature.

However, football's most lucrative recent buyers, PSG, have flexed their financial muscle and have emerged as the new favorite to sign the 21-year-old.

Ducker suggests City are balking after the French champions' interest raised the touted price of a transfer to £67 million without factoring in any add-ons that may be negotiated. The fee would be in excess of City's club record of around £60 million. For PSG, the transfer would make De Jong just the third-most expensive signing in the last two years and would represent around a third of the world-record sum paid for Neymar in 2017.

Pep Guardiola is reportedly content to step away from the deal with City's owners no longer willing to contribute to escalating price wars. This has increasingly been City's standpoint, with deals for Alexis Sanchez, Fred, and Jorginho abandoned due to inflated prices.

De Jong said earlier this week he wants his future resolved quickly. With City seemingly taking a step back and Barcelona also unlikely to compete with PSG financially, it seems his decision has been made easier.

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