Edson Álvarez close to joining Ajax after verbal agreement reached | OneFootball

One of Mexico’s brightest young talents is on the verge of a move to Ajax to directly replace Matthijs de Ligt.

According to De Telegraaf, there’s a verbal agreement in place between Ajax and América over a $17m (€15.1m) move for 21-year-old Edson Álvarez.

The newspaper also reports that personal terms were also agreed on Monday and that Álvarez will put pen-to-paper on a five-year deal.

Ajax sporting director Marc Overmars confirmed Monday that the club has been scouting Álvarez for quite some time.

“Edson Alvarez is a player we like,” said Overmars. “I think he’s at a good age, 21, is a regular international for Mexico and we’ve known about him for a while because we’ve been following him.”

Álvarez made his América debut back in 2016 and found himself playing for the Mexican national team just a few months later.

The versatile Álvarez has earned 28 caps to date, playing a prominent role at the World Cup in Russia and with El Tri’s Gold Cup-winning squad.

Álvarez had been most recently linked to West Ham, Wolves, and fellow Eredivisie outfit PSV.