Atlanta United coach Frank de Boer says Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt is good enough for Barcelona.

The Catalans are favourites to land De Ligt, who was coached by De Boer at Ajax.

“When you look at someone like De Ligt, he is already attracting a lot of interest and his departure is pretty much unstoppable. He is such a talent, he can play in any team, in any system, he will go on to have a brilliant career," De Boer said.

“The problem we have is that, as soon as they play two good seasons, or even one good season, they are gone. The bigger clubs watch us closely. But our model remains the same, if we fear we are going to lose a player, we look at our Academy and we identify the best player coming through who can step into that position."