Erik ten Hag would still “love” to have Frenkie de Jong in his Manchester United midfield.
The situation has not changed from a year ago when Manchester United spent over 100 days chasing Frenkie de Jong in the transfer window. Impossible unless the Netherlands midfielder decides to leave Camp Nou. He didn’t want to last summer.
United ended up looking elsewhere and fixed a problem in midfield that has excited for years by signing Casemiro. Not just any defensive midfielder, but the best in the world.
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano expects Ten Hag would still want De Jong, which makes sense as the former Ajax man looks a perfect fit for how the Dutchman wants his team to play.
Furthermore, the Netherlands star would be a big upgrade on other midfielders currently at the club – bar Casemiro!
“Erik ten Hag loves Frenkie de Jong, we know that very well,” Romano revealed in the latest CaughtOffside newsletter.
“It’s normal he’d love to have Frenkie at Man Utd but I always mention the same thing since last June: it’s on Frenkie to decide his future, and at the moment he has not told Barca that he wants to leave.
“He’s happy in Barcelona and so there are no changes at this stage.”
Stretty News verdict
I don’t want another dragged out saga involving United and De Jong this summer. We had enough of drama over it last year and should be able to suss out the player to see whether he is ready to move on from Barcelona.
The La Liga leaders made it clear last summer that they wanted to cash in… but De Jong stayed and has been a key player in Xavi’s midfield as Barcelona push for La Liga success.
This summer we need to move quickly with alternatives if De Jong pulls the same tricks again.
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