Barcelona midfielder Frankie de Jong has made it clear he would love to join Manchester United, a move to Premier League rivals Chelsea.
The future of the Dutch international looks uncertain as the Catalan club is trying to sell him to raise some much-needed funds. United and their new manager Erik ten Haag have been looking for a dynamic midfielder for some time, but nothing seems to have worked out between the two clubs.
Todd Boehly, the new owner of the Blues, flew to Barcelona in a frantic attempt to break the deal for de Jong. In discussions with Boehly that were attended by Barcelona director Matteu Alemanni, advisor Jordi Cruyff and chairman Joan Laporta, the Dutch international made his intentions clear to everyone as he said he would prefer a move to Old Trafford if he had to. Is forced to move out of Barcelona.
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De Jong would like to be reunited with his former manager Ten Haag, under whom he flourished at Ajax. The Red Devils are equally eager to complete the move and are said to have agreed a transfer fee of around £70million for the midfielder, but discussions have since stalled.
According to reports from Spanish outlet Marca, the transfer move is being delayed because Barcelona are actually owed a total of £17 million in deferred payments and bonuses during the COVID pandemic.
While the former Ajax midfielder prefers to end up at Manchester United over a move to Chelsea, it is still unclear whether any of the options he finds attractive. De Jong reportedly said that his real ambition is to live at Camp Nou and excel in the Blagarana colours.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta publicly said earlier this week that de Jong would not be sold. “Frankie de Jong is a Barcelona player, and we don’t want to trade him unless we have no other option,” he said. This statement may have been a well-planned plan to get United to increase its offer to the player.
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