Gary Neville says it will be “embarrassing” if Manchester United fail to sign Frenkie de Jong – and “horrific” if he turns us down for Chelsea.
Erik ten Hag made De Jong his primary target this summer so it would be disappointing to see the board come up short for yet another manager. The Dutchman will hope this summer isn’t a sign of things to come.
Former Manchester United captain turned pundit Gary Neville is bracing himself for the worst if De Jong heads to Stamford Bridge over Old Trafford.
Neville told Football Daily, as quoted by The Sun: “If they (United) don’t get him, it’s embarrassing but if he goes to Chelsea, it’s horrific.
“If he doesn’t want to come the deal would have been switched off a few weeks ago.
“Because of the relationship the player has with the manager, there must be some communication between them that’s saying, ‘wait for me I’m coming’.”
It has been obvious all summer that Barcelona have been trying to push De Jong out the door, but he remains and has a contract he wants respected. Barca see things differently and appear reluctant to hand over the €17 million the player is owed in deferred wages since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Neville continued: “There are three outcomes. One, he comes and Man United look smart and patient.
“The second is that he stays at Barca and there’s a bit of embarrassment because they’ve put all their eggs in one basket, and they haven’t got anyone else in.
“They’ve got a void in the squad, they’re starting the season with Fred and McTominay, and it makes them look like they can’t get a deal over the line.
“The third one does not even contemplate thinking about – he goes to a rival club in the Premier League against the manager who he’d worked under for the previous few years.”
The 25-year-old has kept to the his guns over staying at Barcelona over the summer.
Even though they’ve forcefully shown him the door.
Whether United get De Jong or not this transfer window has been handled abysmally and both Arnold and Murtough should pay for it with their jobs. This is supposed to be a restart, a rebuild, yet they have failed to land three of Ten Hags top four targets so far in De Jong, Timber, Antony and Nunez. Movement should have been made on all these targets before the window opened. If these guys can’t do that then get in people who can.