Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth has stated that there is still a chance Manchester United could sign Frenkie de Jong.
At one stage earlier on in the summer, the Red Devils seemed close to landing the Dutchman, having reportedly agreed upon a fee with Barcelona.
However, no move materialised with Spanish media claiming that De Jong was not keen to move to Old Trafford due to the ‘erratic’ way in which the club has been run.
Despite all that, Sheth has claimed that there is still an outside chance the midfielder ends up joining Manchester United before the window slams shut on September 1.
When asked if he would completely rule out a move while appearing on the Sky Sports Transfer Show, the journalist explained that the deal is difficult, but ‘never say never’.
In response to the question, he said (6:25): “No, I don’t think so. Only because I’ve always said three other words: never say never.
“But the issue that United have here is it’s financially not viable to be able to do a deal that takes in Casemiro for 70 million pounds, that takes in Antony for 80 million pounds, and takes in Frenkie de Jong for 72 million pounds.
“For it to happen it would have to come from the Barcelona end and then United would have to alter potentially their terms on how they would do that deal.”
Will Frenkie de Jong end up at Manchester United?
Yes
No
TIF thoughts on Frenkie de Jong and Man United…
Having already brought in key central midfielder Casemiro this summer – for the notable fee of £70m – it would certainly take a brave individual to predict another big fee being splashed out on De Jong.
Even so, those two aren’t exactly the same players and so there could be space in the same team for the duo to work together as a midfield pair.
Indeed, across the span of their careers, De Jong has nearly the double expected assists per 90 minutes when compared to Casemiro, and delivers a higher number of shot-creating actions. While the Brazilian makes 3.16 tackles per game compared to 1.26, as well as making more blocks and tackles (via Fbref).
With that in mind, while this deal doesn’t seem likely, there is a certain logic to it – if United are willing to splash the cash this summer.