Barcelona have reportedly pulled the plug on their pursuit of Matthijs de Ligt as they are no longer confident of persuading the Ajax youngster to join them.
De Ligt is regarded as one of the hottest talents in European football, seeing his form over the past 12 months rewarded with the highly-coveted 2018 Golden Boy award earlier this month.
Barca are believed to have sent representatives to Amsterdam to hold initial talks with both De Ligt and teammate Frenkie de Jong, despite Ajax making it clear that neither player will be sold in January.
Spanish outlet AS suggests that the Catalan giants are no longer in the running to sign De Ligt, however, as the Netherlands international is instead torn between Bayern Munich and Juventus.
The report also claims that Barcelona felt that they did everything in their power to strike a deal with the Netherlands international, but it became clear that they were wasting their time.
De Ligt is thought to be valued at £57.5m by the Eredivisie giants.
Daniel Lewis
