Journalist, Ben Jacobs, recently claimed he believes Manchester United’s target Frenkie De Jong will leave Barcelona this summer if they sign Bernardo Silva as the Catalan club are not genuine in keeping the Dutchman.
One of the biggest transfer sagas so far this summer has been the potential deal for Dutch star De Jong to bring his talents to the Premier League and specifically for United. However, the Red Devils have not gotten far in the deal despite having a transfer fee agreed with Barcelona.
While it is known De Jong wishes to stay in Spain, Jacobs has revealed that Barcelona are not genuine in wanting to keep him and they will sell once they acquire Silva from Manchester City this summer.
Jacobs told the All For United transfer show, “I think that De Jong if Barcelona get [Bernardo] Silva will be sold. That’s my personal opinion. But there’s too many moving parts for that personal opinion to necessarily hold too much worth.
“But talking to sources. My feeling is that Barcelona are not genuine in their desire to keep De Jong, and if they were, they wouldn’t have gone back and forth in such a painstaking way to agree a fee with Manchester United in the first place.
“So, whether Manchester United get him or not, the fact that so many talks were there, around agreeing a fee, and the finesse of negotiation to get to that 85-million-euro fee shows you the time and energy put in by both clubs means that the door at Barcelona’s end is open to let De Jong leave, regardless of what they actually say”. (38:40)
TIF Thoughts on De Jong to United…
This saga has been drawn out the entire window so far and it currently looks no closer to being completed. It is interesting that Barcelona have not forced De Jong to accept the transfer considering their financial situation and are waiting until they can yet again sign another player before selling.
For United, it makes sense that they want to bring in the Dutchman as he would fill an area of need that is currently occupied by Scott McTominay and Fred. De Jong would be a significant upgrade as he ranked in the 95th percentile for progressive passes received and the 94th for progressive carries per game.
It looks like this deal will continue right up until the end of the transfer window, but surely if it drags on it will force United to look elsewhere and maybe force Barcelona to move quicker on selling him.
Will United get De Jong?Yes
No
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