REVEALED: Barcelona’s €100m Man Utd transfer rejection

Tom Hancock

• 30 Jun 2023 12:39 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona were right to turn down a €100m approach for Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong last year, says club president Joan Laporta.

In one of the longest-running sagas of the 2022 summer transfer window, De Jong was heavily linked with a switch to Old Trafford – where he would have been reunited with Erik ten Hag, having played under him at Ajax.

But no move ever materialised, with De Jong wanting to stay with Barca – where he won his first La Liga title as the Blaugrana were crowned champions of Spain in Xavi’s first full season as manager.

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That said, it sounds like it wasn’t ultimately De Jong’s decision to make. Speaking to Onze TV3, Laporta admitted:

“Last year, we had €100m offer for Frenkie de Jong…and we did well not selling him. There are players who should not be on the market.”

One would presume that the bid in question came from Man Utd – who ultimately upgraded midfield by signing Casemiro from Real Madrid in a €70.7m deal.

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Frenkie says relax

De Jong went on to feature in 33 of Barcelona’s 38 La Liga games last term – starting 29 of those – making 43 appearances in all competitions and taking his total for the club to 183.

The Netherlands international, 26, joined Barca from Ajax in 2019, with the €75m transfer fee one of the highest ever paid for a Dutch player.

Discussing his future earlier this month, De Jong told Voetbal International: “I always knew that I wanted to stay at Barcelona; that’s why it wasn’t so stressful for me last summer… I feel good at Barcelona and assume that I will still be playing here next season.”