Manchester City and Barcelona are reportedly ready to accept defeat in their pursuit of highly-rated Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt.

The Netherlands international has been tipped to join both clubs after impressing for the Eredivisie giants since making his senior debut in September 2016.

Barcelona in particular were said to be closing in on the youngster but, according to Calciomercato, De Ligt has instead accepted an invitation to hold talks with Juventus.

Juve are said to be desperate to land the 19-year-old, but the Italian champions accept that it will take an offer of more than £50m to land their central-defensive target.

De Ligt has already made 54 top-flight appearances for Ajax and has been capped 11 times at senior international level.