"He is an Ajax player, he has trained and we are going to prepare for RKC," Erik ten Hag said of Sergino Dest ahead of his side's Eredivisie match against RKC Waalwijk on Sunday, as quoted by Goal.
"I can't say anything about it, there is a lot of interest in all of our players. Dest has developed well so it's not surprising there is interest."
The 19-year-old is out of contract in 2022 and has reportedly rejected the club's offer to extend his current deal. Asked about the rumour, Ten Hag parried: "Oh, is that so? You make assumptions. If we have news, we will put it on our website."
Barcelona and Bayern Munich are said to be in the race for the right-back with the Bundesliga champions as favourites to land him in this transfer window. The Ajax manager hopes that Dest will stay at the club despite the interest from the two European giants.
"If he leaves, which I prefer he doesn't, [the squad] will be thin," Ten Hag added. "Let me put it this way: I am not in favour of it but if it happens, we will look for a replacement."
The Bavarians have reportedly agreed on personal terms with Dest and now it's up to the club's to find an agreement over the transfer fee. As per reports, Ajax are ready to offload Sergino for €25m.
"Bayern Munich is a very nice club in Europe," Ten Hag concluded. "I focus on Ajax and the development of Ajax. I want [Dest] to stay. If there is a different outcome, we'll have to change things around."
Dest's move to Camp Nou, however, hasn't been discarded yet. The Catalans need to sell Nelson Semedo first to make an official bid for Sergino.
