The Frenkie De Jong transfer saga has been going on for a long time this summer. The Netherlands international is one of the best midfielders who can control the middle of the park. Barcelona are in a situation where they want to lower their wages and De Jong has a salary which exceeds their budget. So Barcelona are trying to convince De Jong to take a pay cut or leave the club.
Manchester United has appointed Erik Ten Hag as their new manager this season and he desperately wants Frenkie De Jong at Old Trafford. The duo has worked together at Ajax. Donny Van de Beek is also there at United from that famous Ajax team. Ten Hag was hoping to create the same miracle with these two midfielders at United as well.
However, things have taken a sudden turn, as Premier League club Chelsea has also joined the race to sign the Barcelona midfielder. Chelsea will play in the Champions League while Manchester United will play in the Europa League this season and this can act as a huge factor.
Frenkie De Jong: Advantage Chelsea
Barcelona has previously signed Chelsea transfer targets Raphinha and Kounde and have also signed former Chelsea player Christensen on a free transfer. The Spanish club now wants to sign Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso but Chelsea are adamant not to sell any players to them.
So Chelsea may have an advantage over Manchester United as Barcelona would want to sell Frenkie De Jong to Chelsea to facilitate the move for Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso. Chelsea are currently pursuing three deals in Frenkie De Jong, Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Marc Cucurella, so they would naturally need to sell some players which would turn into Barcelona’s advantage.
As things stand now, Chelsea are in a more advantageous position than Manchester United due to Barcelona’s interest in their players and their status of being a Champions League club. However, the final decision lies with Frenkie De Jong who still wants to stay at Barcelona.