Frenkie de Jong wants to stay at Barcelona but if he must leave then his preferred destination is not Manchester United, according to Sport, despite the huge lengths the United hierarchy are going to to sign Erik ten Hag’s primary target in this summer transfer window. Instead, it is reported the Dutch 25-year-old would only consider switches to either Bayern Munich or United’s Premier League rivals, Chelsea. This protracted deal looks like running right to transfer deadline day on 31 August.
Meanwhile Chelsea have moved a step closer to signing the highly rated Sevilla defender Jules Kounde. The Blues have agreed personal terms with the 23-year-old France international centre-back and have now met the Spanish club’s asking price of £55m, according to several reports, with Kounde set to have a medical over the next 48 hours. Thomas Tuchel is rebuilding his defence after the departure of Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona, leaving the ageing Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta as Chelsea’s frontline centre-halves. Kounde would add to the recent arrival of Kalidou Koulibaly at Stamford Bridge.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid do not want to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Marca. The Mail reports Leicester have rejected a £15m bid from Monaco for Boubakary Soumare. And Leicester are willing to consider big-money offers for James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho in order to raise funds to strengthen the squad, the Telegraph claims.
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