De Jong v Bellingham: Who's a better option for Man Utd?

Stuart Telford

• 3 Nov 2022 13:19 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United have been linked with moves for midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Jude Bellingham. They won't need both.

De Jong was new manager Erik ten Hag's top transfer target when he succeeded Ralf Rangnick in the Old Trafford hot seat, and he and his new employers pursued the Barcelona man for most of the summer.

De Jong ultimately stayed put; Barca able to offer him Champions League football that United weren't and the Blaugrana also still owing him €17m in unpaid wages.

Bellingham had been on United's radar earlier, and Sir Alex Ferguson had personally given the young Englishman a tour of the club's facilities before he decided to join Borussia Dortmund from Birmingham in July 2020.

READ: Dortmund ready to break the bank to keep Jude Bellingham

Both could on be on the move this summer, and each are valued at north of €100m by their clubs. United are big spenders but dropping that amount on two players in the same position might even be beyond their folly.

So which one should they go for?

Styles of play

De Jong and Bellingham have some stylistic similarities. Both like to take the ball off the tip of their centre-back's toe and bring play forward with a pass or a dribble, but one of primary points of differentiation between them is where they like to do that from.

De Jong is happiest being the deepest midfielder, whereas Bellingham would rather be what the Italians call a Mezzala, getting back and forward from a wider and more advanced position with somebody like De Jong as an extra layer of protection behind him.

READ: De Jong FLATLY rejects January move to Man Utd

With United having already spent €80m on Real Madrid Casemiro - an arch midfield destroyer - Bellingham's profile would make more sense from a squad planning point of view.

How much would they cost?

De Jong should beat Bellingham by this measure. The Dutchman is rated at €59m by Football Transfers' in-house algorithm; Bellingham at €88m, and while both of their clubs will demand more for their players, Barcelona are in a weaker negotiating position than Dortmund.

Barca have activated "financial levers" - selling a percentage of future revenues to stay active in the transfer market - but they remain in debt. Dortmund, having sold the likes of Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland in consecutive summers, are comfortably in the black.

Bellingham also has six years on De Jong, and with the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City in the race for his signature, Dortmund can drive his price up higher. By this measure, Frenkie might make more financial sense.

Other considerations

There is branding win to be had for United if they can capture either player. For the Red Devils to have trailed De Jong all summer and then not signed him is not a good look. One missed attempt can be put down to circumstance; a second is a serious slight.

But Bellingham is on a trajectory to become the face of English football for a generation, and he will be one of the first names on Gareth Southgate's teamsheet for the World Cup later this month, despite his tender years.

Signing him ahead of De Jong, and, more importantly, ahead of Real, City, Liverpool and the like, would be a major coup; a statement that United are considered to be back among the upper echelons for the world's best young players.

De Jong could play alongside Casemiro too, cost less money than Bellingham, and be a branding win in his own right, but if United can get Bellingham next summer, they should pull out all the stops.