Man Utd target Frenkie de Jong 'shortlisted' by Bayern Munich

Stuart Telford

• 24 Jun 2023 13:34 BST
• 3 min read

After pursuing Frenkie de Jong for all of last summer, Manchester United could be set to lose out to Bayern Munich for the Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder according to reports in Germany.

That's if Thomas Tuchel gets his way in Bavaria, according to Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg. Tuchel is heading into his first summer as Bayern boss, and has reportedly shortlisted the Dutchman as a potential addition to his squad.

United had pursued a transfer for De Jong for the whole of last summer's transfer window, but he dug his heels in, determined to stay at "dream club" Barcelona.

READ: De Jong confirms he will NOT replace Busquets at Barcelona amid Man Utd interest

"Frenkie de Jong's name has been listed by Thomas Tuchel," reports Plettenberg, who also broke the news of Sadio Mane's transfer to Bayern from Liverpool last summer. "The Dutchman's situation is being monitored by the club, [but] nothing more at this stage."

De Jong could be available for sale this summer. La Liga have told Barcelona to reduce their debt by €200 million if they want to take part in the competition they recently won for a 27th time next season.

De Jong available

It is understood all but Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele, Gavi and Pedri are available for transfer at Camp Nou, and there is now more competition on De Jong's place in the team following Ilkay Gundogan's arrival from Manchester City.

READ: Xavi 'insists' on €60 million Barcelona signing

De Jong is valued at €43.2m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, so Barca could get a significant fee for him as well as removing his squad-high €37.5m-a-year before tax salary from their wage bill.

Whether De Jong would agree to a move this summer having so steadfastly dug his heels in to stay last remains to be seen, but he was reportedly concerned about the turmoil at United and the lack of league titles.

The latter is something Bayern can offer, having been crowned Bundesliga champions for the 11th consecutive time last term, although they might baulk at De Jong's potential asking price.

Barca head coach Xavi is a keen admirer of Bayern's Joshua Kimmich, meanwhile, so perhaps a deal could be done…