Tottenham and Manchester United both wanted to sign Jurrien Timber from Ajax back in the summer, and remain interested.
It was Fabrizio Romano who revealed that Erik ten Hag wants to be reunited with the 21-year-old at Old Trafford after leaving Ajax to replace Ralf Rangnick.
Elsewhere, 90min claimed that Antonio Conte wants Timber in N17.
Now, it has become far more difficult for Tottenham and Manchester United to sign him.
What’s the story?
Well, the centre-back’s value was already quite high, but it has risen after being named in the Under-23 World Cup Best XI.
Timber finds himself alongside some of football’s greatest young talents such as Jude Bellingham, Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala and Vinicius Junior in the XI, after shining for the Netherlands in Qatar.
The Ajax No.2 made four starts under Louis van Gaal as the Netherlands reached the quarter-final stage, where they lost on penalties to eventual winners Argentina.
In those outings, Timber made three tackles and 2.5 interceptions per game, as WhoScored shows.
Alongside one of Europe’s greatest defenders in Virgil van Dijk, he certainly didn’t look out of place.
Tottenham have great chance of beating Manchester United to Timber
In our view, despite Timber’s strong relationship with Ten Hag, Tottenham have a great chance of signing the precocious Dutch wonderkid.
Manchester United already have a settled defensive pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane, whereas Conte is keen to bring a new centre-back to north London after Clement Lenglet’s disappointing displays.
The Times believe the Italian wants a new defender, and he can convince Timber as there is a guaranteed starting role for him in the Spurs backline – he will surely get plenty of game time.
Be sure to keep an eye on Timber’s situation, as Ajax will do well to keep him after his World Cup exploits.
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