Chelsea will face competition to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona as Manchester United provide public hint of interest in Thomas Tuchel's target.
The German manager would love to make de Jong his sixth signing of the window after Marc Cucurella was confirmed on a six-year deal and believes that the Dutch midfielder could provide a short-term improvement and long-term boost to his ageing midfield.
With Jorginho and N'Golo Kante already into the last year of their contracts, Chelsea have a fight to keep their central midfielder department full, even with the addition of England under-19 superstar Carney Chukwuemeka.
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Premier League rivals Manchester United also have interest in the player and were thought to be close to agreeing a deal with Barcelona for him, but have since been stalled as the Spanish club's financial situation complicates matters.
It is also reported that the 25-year-old would prefer a move to London over Manchester if a transfer is to be done. De Jong would also be keen to stay in Catalonia if that could be arranged, though once more, the £17m owed to him in deferred wages and an instance to have him reduce his salary is making negotiations tough.
That hasn't stopped new United boss Erik ten Hag from dropping a transfer hint with the player in mind. Speaking ahead of his side's league opener against Brighton, ten Hag said: "We want Frenkie? It's about the right players and I cannot give comments on a player under contract at another club.
"When you work with the current squad and develop players in your current squad, in this moment we have players in that position and perform really well. It would be a good situation (to have concluded all of their business) but I have a squad and I'm happy with the current squad.
"We make good progress, I'm happy with the signings until now. You don't need any player, you need the right player, that's what we're working for."
Having allowed former-Chelsea target Paul Pogba to re-join Juventus for free this summer, United are a midfielder short heading into the new campaign and like Tuchel, have identified de Jong's versatility and creativity as a prize target.
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