The last thing Manchester United fans want to be reading over their cornflakes on a Sunday morning is that Frenkie de Jong has ruled out a move to Manchester United, but these reports are growing thick and fast.
There have been three sources. First, former Barcelona head coach Ronald koeman said that he had spoken to Frenkie recently and that he had told him he wants to stay at Barcelona, period.
The second was a report in Mundo Deportivo from one of the outlet’s editors saying that “De Jong has no intention of joining United … but Chelsea might be an option”.
The third source was a report from Diario sports which listed “ten reasons why Frenkie de Jong refuses to join United”.
It’s all pretty convincing on the surface, but before we throw our cornflake bowl against the kitchen wall in frustration, let’s delve a little deeper into these reports.
1. Koeman.
Koeman’s words were ““With Frenkie, with Memphis, I have a lot of contact … I know the situation of Frenkie and he said it himself the other day, he wants to stay.
“It was his intention to stay at Barcelona and nothing else. That is the only thing I know.”
This may be perfectly true. De Jong has said himself on camera, twice, that he wants to stay at Barça. But when the writing is on the wall, when the club says you must either leave or take a 50% pay cut, things start to look different.
2. Mundo Deportivo
The problem with the argument that De Jong has ‘no intention’ of joining United is that surely even United’s negotiators would not have got this far without sounding out the player’s camp over his openness to the move.
We also have no reason to doubt reports that Erik ten Hag has spoken to the player personally, with some even claiming the pair are in daily contact.
Of course, sometimes players will have a last minute change of heart, but it seems inconceivable that things would have got this far if the player had simply refused the move.
As for Chelsea as the preferred option, other reports have said the opposition His respect for Ten Hag and the fact that his compatriot will build the team around him at United could more than compensate for the lack of Champions League football.
The remaining “evidence” all comes from the Diario Sport article:
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