The Ajax prodigy may not be moving to the Premier League any time soon.

Manchester United is set to miss out on the signing of Ajax center back Matthijs De Ligt and former Netherlands international Ruud Gullit has revealed why. The ex-Chelsea and Milan star has insisted that 19-year-old prospect finds the idea of playing for the Red Devils unappealing because of their absence in next season's UEFA Champions League.

De Ligt has been the subject of intense transfer speculation in recent times having excelled in the season gone by. Under the leadership of the teenage sensation, Ajax won a domestic double and defied the odds to reach the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. He also featured in Netherlands' UEFA Nations League semi final win over England and the final defeat to Portugal.

A move away from Ajax is said to be on the cards for De Ligt although the player has come out to state that he does not know where his future lies. The likes of Manchester United, Juventus, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain are all reportedly interested in the signing of the teenage star. While it was initially speculated that a move to the Red Devils was close for De Ligt, recent rumors suggest that the Parisians have jumped in front of the queue as favorites to sign the center back.

In line with the development, Ruud Gullit has overruled an imminent switch to Manchester United for the defender.

"I don't think it'll be Manchester United, they don't play in the Champions League," Gullit told Omnisport.

"I think he wants to play in the Champions League, so that's unfortunate for Manchester United.

"It's going to be difficult [for a lot of teams], a lot of them [big teams] might have UEFA [transfer] bans, so there's a lot that's going on still," he  added.

"So I hope he makes the right decision for himself."

With De Ligt's transfer reportedly in limbo, Manchester United has set its sights on potentially recruiting Leicester City's Harry Maguire as well as West Ham's Issa Diop and Benfica's Ruben Dias.