Ex-Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has claimed that Man Utd and Chelsea target Frenkie de Jong “wants to stay” with the La Liga giants this summer.
Koeman was De Jong’s coach at Barcelona before the ex-Everton boss was replaced by club legend Xavi.
De Jong is being heavily linked with a move away from the Spanish giants this summer. Earlier this week it was claimed that Chelsea are looking to ‘hijack’ Man Utd’s move for the midfielder.
The Barcelona offer to Frenkie de Jong is an insult to both the player and the game
The Dutchman signed for Barcelona in 2019 for an initial fee of around £63m. He has played 140 times for them across all competitions. This included 47 outings last season.
De Jong and Koeman also worked together internationally as the latter was the Netherlands’ boss between 2018 and 2020. He thinks the 25-year-old “wants to stay” in Spain:
“I know the situation of Frenkie and he said it himself the other day, he wants to stay,” Koeman claimed (quotes via The Mirror).
“It was his intention to stay at Barcelona and nothing else. That is the only thing I know.”
Meanwhile, Paul Merson thinks Man Utd will struggle to get into the Premier League top four next season:
“Manchester United are in disarray and they need to sort this out,” Merson told Sportskeeda. “At the moment, it’s a bit like a circus there. Erik ten Hag has come in, but they haven’t got a centre-forward.
“They would’ve gone for Darwin Nunez if they knew Cristiano Ronaldo was going to leave. Manchester United have known that they’ve failed to qualify for the Champions League for a long time now.
“They don’t have a striker, and Marcus Rashford isn’t a natural goalscorer. They haven’t completed Frenkie de Jong’s signing from Barcelona.
“United are going to Thailand and Australia, and they need to solve these problems before their tour. At the moment, Man United are looking at just another season.
“I thought they’d have a shot at the top four – I just don’t see that anymore. They’ve lost Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba and they’ve got bundles of work to do.”
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