Manchester United’s pursuit of Frenkie de Jong over the summer ended as expected – the Dutchman ended up staying at Barcelona and United signed an alternative instead.
Making De Jong this summer’s priority was always ambitious and although it looked promising early on, the longer the window dragged on, it looked increasingly unlikely that De Jong was willing to join the Reds.
Barcelona were keen on moving De Jong on due to his abnormally high wages and the Catalan club’s poor financial situation but a move never materialised in the end. Now, reports from Spain detail why De Jong stayed at Barcelona.
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According to Cadena SER, De Jong’s intention was always to stay at the club had joined just three years earlier. Furthermore, he had signed a new long-term contract 18 months earlier. As per the report, his team-mates also wanted him to stay as they chanted in unison at a dinner in May.
It’s claimed that the thought of joining United never ‘seduced him’, he wanted to play in the Champions League and he was not convinced by working with Ten Hag again despite their time together at Ajax.
Additionally, he views himself as the long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets, who is out of contract next year. His family are said to be very settled in Barcelona as well.
SN’s verdict…
To say that United’s hand was weak in their pursuit of De Jong would be an understatement. As mentioned above, it was always an ambitious attempt and perhaps delusional.
It didn’t take long for United to agree a transfer fee with Barcelona but De Jong never looked close to considering a move. That may change further down the line, however.
Ten Hag was desperate to sign De Jong but he has found a winning formula without him, with Christian Eriksen neatly pulling the strings so far this season.
