Frenkie de Jong pledged his future to Barcelona before the Spanish giants put him up for sale as Manchester United look to sign the midfielder.
The Spanish side are reportedly looking to part ways with the former Ajax star in the upcoming transfer window to raise funds due to their ongoing money issues, according to Goal. Barca shelled out £65million for the Dutch international three years ago but are willing to cash in on their prized asset for a cut-price fee of £50m.
Several clubs have been put on alert including Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City, as a result, but the Red Devils are seemingly in pole position to win the race for De Jong's signature, given his previous relationship with incoming United boss Erik ten Hag whose main priority is to add a midfielder in the summer.
It remains to be seen if De Jong is willing to leave the Camp Nou, however. But, on numerous occasions, he has spoken about how it has been a "dream" to play for Barca since leaving Ajax.
Speaking about his future, De Jong told The Guardian in February: “I’m very happy I’m at Barcelona: from a young age I’ve wanted to be here, so in that way it has been a dream come true. But I would have liked to win more trophies than we did in my first two years. I expected more in that sense, let’s put it that way. But other than that, I’m very happy here and hopefully for many more years.”
Barcelona's willingness to offload De Jong could alter his stance, especially with Ten Hag arriving at Old Trafford. The 24-year-old made his name at the Amsterdam Arena under the new United boss and was an integral part of the star-studded team that shocked European football by reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.
De Jong earned a move to Barcelona that following summer and has been a regular in the Catalan's starting XI ever since. Arsenal have also been loosely linked with De Jong as football.london suggests they could be in the mix given the player's affection for the Emirates club.
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One of De Jong's idols is Marc Overmars who joined the Gunners from Ajax in 1997 before sealing a move to Barcelona in 2000 after spending three impressive years in north London. And the Ajax-Arsenal-Barcelona route was something De Jong was potentially looking to replicate when he was still playing in the Netherlands before he ended up skipping the middle step as the Spanish giants came calling.
De Jong was a big fan of watching Arsenal growing up and hailed their "pretty beautiful past." Speaking to Voetbal International back in 2019, he said: "I actually thought Arsenal was pretty beautiful in the past.
"In my mind, I have had the following list for a long time: Ajax-Arsenal-Barcelona, call it the Marc Overmars route. But yes, if you can go directly to Barcelona, then you are also right where you want to be. Faster than you ever dared to dream."
Man City are the latest team to enter the frame with Pep Guardiola's side looking to 'hijack' United's move for De Jong.
