Chelsea are reportedly “preparing a formal offer” to sign Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong that would be a direct attempt to hijack Manchester United’s move for Erik ten Hag’s primary transfer target. That said, part of the report from Spain doesn’t quite add-up.
Manchester United already have an agreement in place with Barcelona for the signing of Frenkie de Jong, but there has been a delay to proceedings the midfielder apparently wants to stay at Camp Nou.
Although there is reason to believe De Jong may prefer a move to a club competing in the Champions League, there is of course a chance that he is waiting for his deferred wages pavement to be paid by Barca. The Independent claims there is reluctance to pay the £17m fee until De Jong agrees to restructure his contract.
It’s also important to remember that Barca have pushed for the player to leave to resolve their ongoing financial issues. And, on that note, I wouldn’t believe anything Joan Laporta says on the matter…
However, a fresh report in Spain hints that Chelsea could be set to gazump United to De Jong’s signature, which would come as a huge blow to Ten Hag before his first season.
According to Spanish outlet Relevo, Barcelona understand Chelsea are preparing a formal proposal to sign the Netherlands star. It is also suggested that a move to United doesn’t appeal to the player, neither sportingly nor personally.
El Barça ya sabe que el Chelsea prepara una propuesta formal por Frenkie de Jong.
📌 En las últimas horas, desde Londres han manifestado su firme deseo de firmar al holandés.
📌 Manchester no seduce al jugador, ni en lo deportivo ni en lo personal.@albert_roge 🤝 @tjuanmarti pic.twitter.com/aaNyYQ3cvD
— Relevo (@relevo) July 19, 2022
This doesn’t make a lot of sense. Are they saying a transfer to United wouldn’t be worth more to De Jong than his current deal at Barcelona?
Furthermore, De Jong wouldn’t need to worry about money being owed to him in deferred wages at Old Trafford, yet that is not something that is worried about at a club where he wishes to stay.
Do they just make it up as they go along because I don’t think Chelsea will be offering De Jong a bigger deal than us. I really don’t.
De Jong could make such a big difference in United’s midfield and it’s not crazy to think Ten Hag will be leading us back to the Champions League next season.
