Manchester United are looking to wrap up a move for Frenkie de Jong - and they will hope his former teammate Lionel Messi will be proved right.
De Jong's big-money move from Erik ten Hag's Ajax to Barcelona in 2019 saw him link-up with seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi before his move to Paris Saint-Germain. Ronald Koeman, manager at the time, has spoken in the past about how he deliberately integrated Messi into his talks with De Jong about his progress.
And Messi predicted that the young midfielder would go on to achieve big things and reach a "higher level" with Koeman revealing he believed De Jong to be a "fantastic player". Whilst he has struggled to kick-on at Barcelona since Messi's prediction, United will hope that proves something he can achieve if they tempt him to Old Trafford.
