The reason why Manchester City pulled out of the race for De Jong

Manchester City conceded defeat in their pursuit of Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong after refusing to break their wage structure, claims The Daily Mail.

Barcelona announced the signing of De Jong on Wednesday night after agreeing a deal worth as much as €86m (£74.8m) with Ajax.

Paris Saint-Germain and City were both pursuing the 21-year-old midfielder but Barcelona eventually won the race after sending a delegation to Amsterdam over the weekend to secure his services.

De Jong wanted to work with Pep Guardiola but City were forced to pull out of negotiations due to the escalating finances involved to complete a deal.

The Premier League champions were the first side on the scene for De Jong’s signature at the start of the season and Guardiola will lament not closing a deal sooner.

PSG and Barcelona’s interest almost doubled Ajax’s valuation and it has now emerged that Barcelona have agreed to pay the Netherlands international mouthwatering £300,000-a-week wages.

Guardiola was desperate to sign De Jong after earmarking the youngster as Fernandinho’s long-term replacement but was not willing to jeopardise the future of the club to land him.

City have made a conscious effort not to overpay when possible, most notably when discussions to sign Alexis Sanchez collapsed and the Chile international joined Manchester United 12 months ago.

De Jong averages more passes per game than any other player in the Eredivisie this season (80.1), while also boasting an impressive pass success rate of 92.2%.