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New Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong says it is a childhood dream to join the Spanish club, and he hopes former Ajax team-mate Matthijs de Ligt will join him at the Nou Camp.

Barca agreed a deal for the Netherlands international in January and will pay an initial 75m euros (£67m).

De Jong, 22, said: "I'd like to see him [De Ligt] here, but I cannot decide.

"He has to make that decision with his family. When I saw Barca wanted me to play here, the decision was very easy."

Barca president Josep Bartomeu has said he knows where Dutch centre-back De Ligt, 19, would be playing next season, but could not say.

He refused to address Atletico Madrid's claims that the La Liga champions have been "disrespectful" in their pursuit of forward Antoine Griezmann.

Nearly 20,000 fans were at De Jong's unveiling on Friday, while his former club Ajax hired a bus and took out a full-page advert in a Spanish newspaper to wish him good luck.

The bus, featuring an image of De Jong, was driven through the Spanish city.

The message on the bus and in the newspaper reads: "Barca, enjoy the future like we do."

De Jong played 89 times for Ajax after joining from Willem II in 2015, and has seven caps for the Netherlands.

He was part of the Ajax side that won the domestic double and reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, before being beaten by eventual runners-up Tottenham.

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