CHELSEA

Manchester United dealt another blow in Frenkie De Jong saga

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Manchester United have made Frenkie De Jong their primary target this season. The Red Devils have lacked in the central midfield department. They view the former Ajax man as the guy who can fix their problems and elevate them to the next level.

With new developments in the story almost every week, United has spent a significant portion of the summer sign Frenkie De Jong. Erik Ten Hag was his manager at Ajax and gave him his big breakthrough. The duo reached the semifinals of the 2018/19 Champions League, after which De Jong departed for Barcelona.

After some unsuccessful negotiations, the United hierarchy thought they finally had a big breakthrough. However, a few days later, bad news came knocking. 

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On Wednesday, it was revealed that Chelsea had started their own effort to recruit De Jong, which could be devastating. Due to Todd Boehly’s financial backing and Thomas Tuchel’s desperate need for reinforcements, they have been in touch with Barcelona.

It was earlier reported that the relations between the two clubs had been sour following Barcelona hijacking Chelsea’s deals for Raphina and Jules Kounde. But now, it seems that the two clubs are in negotiations for the sale of De Jong.

De Jong’s unpaid salary of around £15 million is one of the main obstacles preventing him from leaving Barcelona. During the pandemic, the Dutchman had an agreement for a temporary wage reduction. There was an agreement that Barcelona will pay that sum back once the financial situation was in control again. But this did not happen.

De Jong is understandably reluctant to quit and give up money that his present employer owes him. United has previously refused to participate in discussions that they believed were unrelated to their interest in transfers.

The Daily Mail reports that they are now content to give De Jong the lump money in addition to the transfer fee, which is made up of £63m plus £8m in add-ons. That would bring the overall cost to £86 million.

However, this was before Chelsea were in the mix. Should he move to Stamford Bridge, cold water will be poured into months of hard work.

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