Frenkie de Jong, a Dutch citizen, has been a target for Manchester United for weeks, but they haven’t been successful.
Erik ten Hag indicated last week (via The Athletic) that he is interested in signing a holding midfielder, but the player must be the right fit.
We do know that the right one on his radar is none other than De Jong but the dilemma is that the Netherlands international does not want to move to the Red Devils (Sport).
United has an agreement with Barca but the attraction of playing at Old Trafford and under his former boss is not enough to lure the player. So, Ten Hag must forget about his compatriot and sign an alternative.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Wolves play breaker, Ruben Neves has been offered to Man United. The Italian transfer expert stated (GiveMeSport):
“This has been discussed because it’s (Neves and Tielemans) been offered to Manchester United, but it’s not something close or imminent and also for other players in that position.”
De Jong has mainly played out of position for Barca in the last three years because Busquets is the specialist defensive midfielder at the Nou Camp.
On the other hand, the Portuguese star, who is rated at £75million (The Sun), is a quality play breaker / deep-lying midfielder, who has proved his worth in the Premier League.
Ten Hag did point out that if United fail to lure the right-holding midfielder, they could develop someone within the squad.
The seasoned Matic served as United’s primary defensive midfielder for the past two seasons before joining Roma. Fred, who came in 2018, has also shown himself to be unreliable over time.
The Samba midfielder is not very skilled at starting/directing play in the middle of the field. Is he truly superior to players like Fabinho, Rodri, Jorginho, Kante, and Neves, among others. I don’t believe so.
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