The two teams Frenkie de Jong is happy to leave Barcelona for
Karan Tejwani
- 2 Aug 2022 09:11 BST
- 3 min read
The saga around Frenkie de Jong’s future is set to go into the final days of the transfer window, with the player’s next club or stay at Barcelona still uncertain.
Barcelona and Manchester United have been in discussion over the player’s future since May, and even have an agreement over a fee, but no conclusion has been reached.
The Catalan club are still eager to sell the player to bring more financial balance to the club, and Manchester United are eager to buy, but there is still a lack of clarity over De Jong’s deferred salary situation.
Additionally, there have been some doubts from De Jong about wanting to join Manchester United, as they can’t offer Champions League football and that the structure of the club hasn’t been very good in recent times.
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De Jong prefers two other options
There are some other clubs interested in De Jong, and he is leaning more towards joining them over the Red Devils, where new manager Erik ten Hag has made him his top target.
It’s believed that De Jong would only consider leaving Barcelona for German champions Bayern Munich or Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, both of whom have shown interest in the player this summer.
It’s unlikely he moves to the Bavarian side, as they’ve already spent big this year, including on De Jong’s former Ajax team-mate, Matthijs de Ligt, who they signed from Juventus.
#mufc are very clear that Frenkie de Jong could give the OK to signing as long as the salary mess with Barcelona is solved. United are willing to help although they understand that this is a negotiation between the player and Barça #mulive [@sport]
— utdreport (@utdreport) August 1, 2022
They’ve also already improved their midfield options with the signing of Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax, and are well-stacked in that area, which would make a move this year unlikely.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are still keen on De Jong, and it’s believed that the Dutchman would prefer a move to London over Manchester, not just for footballing reasons.
In all, it’s still evident that De Jong wants to stay at Barcelona, but would be unwilling to accept a salary reduction, having already seen his wages deferred due to the impact of the pandemic on the La Liga club.
