Manchester City were seemingly extremely close to signing Frenkie De Jong in 2018, with the young midfielder's family reportedly scouting out potential properties in Manchester ahead of a potential move from Ajax.

That's according to the Daily Mail, who suggest that City wanted the Dutch international to take over from Fernandinho in their side and he was ready to join the Citizens before Barcelona announced their interest.

He would ultimately join the La Liga giants in a deal worth £65m in January of last year, with him completing the move last summer.

Since then, he has established himself as a key first-team player with Blaugrana, having made 53 appearances in all competitions, contributing two goals and five assists, as per Transfermarkt.

The young midfielder could well have been the perfect man to replace Fernandinho in this City side, although Rodri has done a fairly impressive job since joining from Atletico Madrid last summer.

So far this season, the Dutchman has averaged a solid 6.94 rating across his eight appearances in La Liga, whilst earning an impressive 7.11 rating across his three appearances in the Champions League, via WhoScored.

When De Jong joined Barcelona, he attracted a lot of praise from former coaches and managers, with the youngster's U'15 coach  at Willem II, Jos Bogers, suggesting:

"I had an interview for the Willem II website and was asked about my favourite player. Obviously, most coaches name Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi, but I said Frenkie De Jong. He was fantastic technically – a natural talent."

The Barcelona manager at the time of his signing, Ernesto Valverde, was also clearly very excited to work with him, saying:

"He's a really exciting signing for the club, both in terms of the present and the future. He's a great player with a really, really big future in front of him. We are hoping for the best for him, because his success will be the club's too. He's a great signing, a really great acquisition."

Considering De Jong has established himself as a key player at Barcelona despite being just 23-years-old, it seems clear that he is destined for a big future, and would have been a big success had he joined Manchester City in the Premier League, so the club's sporting director, Aitor "Txiki" Begiristain Mujika, will be frustrated that he was unable to complete a deal to sign him back in 2018.

A potentially disastrous decision in the long-run.

And, in other news... 100% aerial duels: Man City beast produced another superb display vs Burnley