Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong ‘has told two people Chelsea info’ as Man Utd push for deal

De Jong quizzed on Man Utd transfer links in June

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Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong has told at least two people he wants to join Chelsea, according to reports. Manchester United are also pushing to land the Netherlands international. Yet while their interest is further along, a deal for the 25-year-old continues to hang in the balance.

Manchester United have spent 13 weeks pursuing De Jong, with the club emboldened by his good relationship with Erik ten Hag.

They’ve also agreed a fee for the Netherlands international, with the Red Devils prepared to pay an overall £72million in order to bring the player in.

However, in recent days, Chelsea have emerged as rivals when it comes to securing De Jong’s signature.

And The National claim the 25-year-old has told ‘at least two people’ that he’d prefer to move to Stamford Bridge than Old Trafford.

Yet while Chelsea are being linked, and have shown interest, they’re actually yet to make an official offer for the Barcelona star.

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United have, contrastingly, put everything into a deal in the hope one can be struck.

Relations between Chelsea and Barcelona aren’t the best these days given the two giants have gone head to head for a number of players this summer.

The Blues had hoped to win the race for Raphinha when it became clear he was looking to leave Leeds United behind for a new challenge.

But Barcelona ended up gazumping them, with the former Sporting Lisbon also turning down Arsenal in favour of joining the Catalan giants.

Barcelona also won the race for Jules Kounde, too, despite Chelsea trying to bring the France international to west London from Sevilla.

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Yet while they’ve pursued Blues duo Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta, they’ve been unable to bring the pair in – much to Chelsea’s delight.

What ultimately happens with De Jong remains to be seen.

But United have been keeping alternatives ‘warm’ and, on Monday, agreed a fee with Juventus for midfielder Adrien Rabiot.

The France international has just a year left on his contract over in Serie A, having been at the club since joining from Paris Saint-Germain back in the summer transfer window of 2019.

United are willing to spend around £15.2m on the player, who was previously linked when Louis van Gaal and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ruled the roost.

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And Rabiot may end up arriving as an alternative to De Jong, despite being a different type of player to the Barcelona star.

Former United star Gary Neville, meanwhile, insisted it would be a disaster for his old side if they miss out on their leading target.

“There’s a lot on that De Jong deal,” said Neville.

“Just generally. Not just for the team but for the club, the new operation, so they can get a deal over the line.

“There are three scenarios. One is that they get him, they look smart, they look patient, they look like they’ve bided their time and got the deal that they wanted.

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“Or, he stays at Barcelona. Which I think could be slightly embarrassing given the relationship the manager’s got with the player.

“Or the horrific outcome is that, he doesn’t just leave Barcelona, he goes to Chelsea – a competitor in the Premier League.

“That wouldn’t be a good outcome for United’s recruitment department.

“I think that would cause problems in the next few weeks.

“At the moment, it might be in two or three weeks Ronaldo settles down, says he’s staying, the football they’ve played in pre-season has been great, they might get De Jong over the line, all of a sudden you’re thinking: oh wow, it could be United.”

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