Frenkie de Jong sparks wild rumours of January move to Man Utd

Carlo Garganese

• 2 Jan 2024 09:32 GMT
• 3 min read

Frenkie de Jong has sparked wild rumours of a January move to Old Trafford after admitting that a transfer could spark “new impulses”.

United made De Jong their primary transfer target in the summer of 2022 and spent much of the window trying to convince him to join.

However, De Jong refused continuously and he ended up staying put at Camp Nou.

Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag remains a big fan of his former player and De Jong’s latest comments have sparked wild talk in the media of a renewed bid.

What did De Jong say?

When asked by NOS if a transfer to a new league and club like Man Utd would bring “new impulses”, De Jong replied: “Possibly. But I’m very satisfied at Barca. It’s always difficult to say… for now I feel good here!”

In truth, there is nothing concrete in United moving for De Jong again and a transfer is unlikely in January as Jim Ratcliffe’s buy-in to the club (with the Englishman set to be in charge of transfers) won’t be ratified until after the transfer window.

Barcelona are understood to have accepted an €85 million bid from Man Utd in July 2022, and made it clear that they wanted him to move to Old Trafford.

But De Jong refused to join Man Utd and stayed at Barcelona, despite interest from Chelsea and Bayern Munich as well.

De Jong played a key role as Barca won La Liga last season, making 33 league appearances, scoring two goals and providing four assists.

He has made 12 appearances and scored once this term as Barca have struggled to defend their title.

This is his fifth season at Camp Nou after joining from Ten Hag’s Ajax in 2019 for €75m.