Talks over a possible transfer of Frenkie de Jong to Manchester United appears to have stalled after Barcelona President Joan Laporta recently said that the Dutch midfielder is not for sale and he will do everything to make sure he stays....CONTINUE READING
For close to 4 weeks, United has been locked in negotiations for Frenkie who emerged as Erik ten Hag’s transfer priority since the coach assumed his role as first team coach at Old Trafford.
Barça initially set his price tag at €85m guaranteed fee, with add-ons taking the whole package to well in excess of €100m. United refused to pay what the Catalans demanded for de Jong and were thought to have agreed a fixed fee of €65m a week ago only for Laporta to declare that the player will not be leaving.
Recent reports are now linking Chelsea with the former Ajax star, with Todd Boehly believed to have traveled to Barcelona to hold talks with the club over a potential swap deal which will see Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso move the other way in exchange for Frenkie.
If these reports are anything to go by, then Chelsea should endeavor to hijack this deal from Man United for this reason.
Watch highlights of Frenkie de Jong’s performance from midfield last term – source (YouTube).
Last season, Christian Pulisic, Werner and Kai Havertz managed to complete a combined 44 key passes in the Premier League as Chelsea finished third on the table, 19 points behind champions Manchester City.
Then in La Liga, de Jong alone completed a total of 43 key passes last term, helping Barça to finish second and qualify for the Champions League.
For most part of the 2021/22 campaign, Chelsea’s attack struggled to receive quality service from the midfield which led to Lukaku scoring just 15 goals in all competitions and still emerge as the Blues’ top goalscorer. But with someone like Frenkie delivering key passes every game, goals won’t be hard to come by anymore.
The ball is in Todd Boehly’s court to get this deal done.
