Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu refused to rule out the possibility Matthijs De Ligt could yet join the club despite it appearing all but certain he would be Juventus bound.
After one of the longest-running transfer sagas in memory, recent reports suggested the 19-year-old centre-back was just days away from finally putting pen to paper on a lucrative €12m-per-season contract with the Italian champions.
Although a transfer fee has not yet been agreed between Juventus and Ajax, the two giants are allegedly not far away from reaching a compromise, while De Ligt's agent Mino Raiola looked set to earn €11m for his part in the deal.
However, Bartomeu has appeared to suggest Barcelona are not yet out of the equation, and that, intriguingly, De Ligt's destination has been decided for some time.
When asked about the player he said: "I have known where De Ligt will play [next season] for a long time. I still know but I cannot say anything else.
Barcelona have already completed the signing of De Ligt's Ajax teammate Frenkie de Jong in a €55m deal, and it had appeared almost inevitable that De Ligt would follow the midfielder to the Nou Camp.
But he was then linked with a whole host of other top European clubs, including Manchester United , Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, and it was thought he had chosen the latter as his preferred club.
Whilst Juve are surely still the favourites for his signature, Bartomeu's comments could be taken as a hint that he is still Barcelona-bound.
If the talks between Ajax and Juventus over the size of the transfer fee break down, the Catalan club could well swoop in to capture the most highly sought-after young player this summer.
Meanwhile Bartomeu also confirmed Barcelona are not currently interesting in re-signing their ex-player Neymar, despite reports that the PSG player was pushing for a move back to the club.
