GOAL

Rumors linking Ajax teenager Sergino Dest with a move to Barcelona have stepped up following a video posted on the right-back’s Instagram page which showed him wearing a jacket branded with the Catalans’ badge.

The 19-year-old U.S. international showed a video in which he was wearing a sweatshirt from the Primera Division leaders. 

He graduated through Ajax’s youth ranks and made 35 appearances in all competitions for Erik Ten Hag’s senior side before the Eredivisie season was curtailed last month because of the coronavirus crisis.

Due to his impressive performances, in which he chalked up five assists in 20 league outings and won the Marco van Basten award for being the club’s young talent of the season, he has found himself linked with a summer move to Barca, who last summer signed Frenkie de Jong from the Dutch side, and Bayern Munich.

While the player seems to have done little on his part to quell speculation, agent Joes Blakborn had already fuelled talk that he could be on his way over the summer.

"It [interest from Barcelona] is not yet concrete," Blakborn told Voetbal international on the young defender, who featured in five Champions League matches this season.

"They have not officially reported to me or Ajax. However, information has been provided in the past. Sergino is one of the full-backs in Europe that they are following. He is an option should Nelson Semedo leave. But I think Sergino is an option for more clubs.

"Bayern Munich still want to take Sergino from Ajax, but at the moment both parties are still far apart. We can't do anything about that at the moment.”

While Dest may be subject to a bidding war between European giants, he has already been at the centre of an international tug-of-war, with the Netherlands having approached him about potentially switching allegiance from the United States – an offer he subsequently declined.

Meanwhile, he is yet to claim a winner’s medal in his career. Although Ajax were top of the Eredivisie table when it was initially postponed due to the coronavirus in March, the campaign was ultimately declared null and void, with no champions, promotion or relegation.