Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong ‘open to Chelsea transfer’ and has terrible view on Man Utd | Football | Sport
Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong is open to joining Chelsea this summer, according to reports in Spain. The Netherlands international is Manchester United’s leading transfer target for the summer window. However, despite a fee being agreed, a move to Old Trafford currently hangs in the balance.
Barcelona and Manchester United last week agreed a £63million deal for De Jong.
But, according to Sport, the midfielder continues to reject the advances of the Red Devils and former boss Erik ten Hag.
It’s stated that De Jong doesn’t like the city of Manchester and thinks the club have been ‘erratic’ in the years since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
The fact the Red Devils don’t have Champions League football to offer, after finishing sixth last term, is another factor in his thinking.
Yet, when it comes to Chelsea, it’s a different story.
The 25-year-old is supposedly open to moving to Stamford Bridge, even though his priority is to stay at Barcelona.
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He views Chelsea, along with Bayern Munich, as a team that ‘aspires to everything’.
And though he doesn’t like Manchester, he’s said to feel that London is a city with ‘all the attractions’.
De Jong isn’t tempted by the Premier League, having played in the Eredivisie and La Liga throughout his career so far.
But he feels Chelsea have a strong sporting project under Thomas Tuchel and the right structure in place to achieve success behind the scenes.
Chelsea, for their part, know that United and Barcelona have agreed a fee for De Jong.
Yet they’re said to be willing to wait for that agreement to ‘decline’, before going forward with a bid of their own.
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If De Jong does move to Chelsea from Barcelona, he’ll become the latest player to make such a transfer in recent years.
Cesc Fabregas swapped Catalonia for London in 2014, moving to Stamford Bridge where he’d go on to win two Premier League titles.
And, the following year, Pedro did the same – having previously been on United’s radar.
Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Tuchel recently opened up on the Blues’ transfer business and revealed he was still looking for reinforcements.
Raheem Sterling has joined from Manchester City, while Kalidou Koulibaly has arrived from Napoli.
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And Tuchel said: “I think we need a couple more players in to improve the squad.
“We were third last season – and we can discuss the reasons – but there is a gap between Man City and Liverpool.
“If we want to fight for the same position, we need to improve. If you stand still, other teams will overtake you.
“We lost players but it is common sense that we have to bring new quality to the team to maintain our level.”
Tuchel also opened up on his decision to trim Chelsea’s squad this summer, too, adding: “The decisions I took, I didn’t like them because all the players deserved to stay here. Also the guys that stayed deserve and are heavily involved. Ross (Barkley) was an example in every training session so far but has a little injury.
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“Billy Gilmour we know well. Tino Anjorin, we struggled to find a role where he will play but I am a big fan.
“We have a lot of options but maybe not the type of player Armando Broja] is. As last season with Conor [Gallagher], we have to weigh up the interest in the player and our interest.
“Do we have a role for the player or not? Is there a prospect of getting minutes or not? If there isn’t for someone like Armando, it’s not enough to just train with the group.
“For someone like Harvey Vale, the transition of youth football and senior football it can be ok to adapt for a year to the intensity, physicality and training.
“I think like Armando, players who already played, we have to look at the situation very carefully and decide if we have the minutes to offer.”
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