Ronald Koeman: Frenkie de Jong still eyes Barcelona stay despite Manchester United agreement
Ronald Koeman has revealed that Frenkie de Jong is still planning to stay at Barcelona despite the agreement with Manchester United over a permanent move. This admission would be concerning, to say the least, for the fans looking at the time the English side has spent chasing after the midfielder.
Man United are stated to have an agreement in principle with Barca for de Jong for a fee of around £56million. Erik ten Hag has identified his former player as his priority target for this summer transfer window. However, the deal has come to a halt as the English club is hesitant to incur the £24million the Spanish side owes to the midfielder.
Speaking in a pre-match presser for the Koeman Cup golf tournament (h/t The Sun), Koeman has admitted that he has regular contact with de Jong even now. The ex-defender added that the Blaugrana superstar still intends to stay at Camp Nou beyond this summer.
“With Frenkie, with Memphis, I have a lot of contact. I know Frenkie’s situation and he said it himself the other day, he wants to stay. So his intention is to continue at Barca and nothing else. It’s the only thing I know.”
More frustrations?
This latest revelation could prove to be quite problematic as we have not found common ground with de Jong when it comes to personal terms. That means Koeman’s words could have some truth, after all, considering how the Dutch midfielder has not given his approval just yet.
De Jong’s stance would be a major roadblock indeed, as he could simply end our pursuit if he remains stubborn about his decision. Should that happen, it would be quite normal for the supporters to show their frustration looking at the club’s current situation.
After all, we have been pursuing the 25-year-old for more than a month at this point, and we have not finalised a move till now. This long-standing saga has been dragged out for too long, and with Chelsea’s emerging interest, we are dealt with more obstacles to overcome in this race.
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In fact, it is claimed that the Blues are planning to steal a march on the Red Devils, with the deal being stalled as of now. We simply cannot afford to lose the former Ajax man to our direct rival, especially after the time we spent pursuing him this summer.
It remains to be seen how the Mancunians would react to this latest update regarding the La Liga midfielder. Ten Hag would have a stern task in convincing de Jong to make a switch to Carrington ahead of the next season. Whether that will happen or not, though, would only be known in due time.
