It looks like both English Premier League clubs Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur will have to look elsewhere in their search for a top central defender, with reports claiming that their reported target, Ryan Gravenberch. The towering defender has been linked with a move to several clubs from the start of last season, but clubs have not been given the green light by Ajax to start negotiations for his possible signing. Mundo Deportivo believe Barcelona tried to sign the Netherlands international when he was just 15, and they still admire him to this day.

Liverpool were rumored to have attempted to open negotiations for Gravenberch last summer, but it looked as though the transfer fee and the wage demands were a problem for the Reds, as they refused to bend to those demands. With Jurgen Klopp signing IbrahimaKonate from German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig some months ago, it now looks highly unlikely that Liverpool will be trying to make a move for the Dutch star anytime soon.

Spurs wwř were also keen to sign the player last summer but just like Liverpool, they also did not submit any official bid to try to sign him. This now leaves Barcelona in the driving seat to sign the player on the summer. Barca manager Xavi is keen to bolster his defensive ranks at the club and Gravenberch has appeared to him as the number one transfer target, meaning that the Camp Nou outfit could be tabling their first official offer for the player in the summer.

Gravenberch will be a top signing for any club he joins this summer, and he will be just another brilliant Ajax superstar who made a name for the self at Ajax before securing a big-money move to a bigger club.