Chelsea v Man Utd for Frenkie – why a transfer could happen
FT Desk
- Updated: 16 Jan 2022 13:57 GMT
- 3 min read
Chelsea and Manchester United are set to do battle for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, according to a number of reports in Spain and England.
El Nacional claims that Man Utd have already had an offer rejected for the Dutchman but could now raise their offer. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail and Mundo Deportivo insist that Chelsea have made a €40 million bid.
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From Barcelona's point of view, there are a couple of reasons why they may sanction a sale.
The main reason is a financial one. Barcelona are swimming in debts of over €1.3 billion and are desperately trying to raise cash and cut costs.
Barca have struggled to offload unwanted players on high wages - even if they did just loan Philippe Coutinho out to Aston Villa - and even if they do have more success in this regard, their unwanted players will not bring in much in terms of a transfer fee.
De Jong, who, according to our very own Transfer Valuation page, is the most valuable player in the whole of La Liga and thus can raise the most cash when it comes to a sale.
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Xavi willing to let De Jong leave
The second reason Barcelona are willing to sell is because they already possess the two best teenage central midfielders in world football in wonderkids Pedri and Gavi.
New Barcelona coach Xavi is a huge fan of both starlets and believes they can more than fill in the void if De Jong leaves.
Therefore, Barcelona can use the cash from De Jong’s sale to ease their debts and use for more pressing areas of the team such as the striker role and defence.
El Nacional adds that when Barcelona’s officials travelled to England to finalise the Ferran Torres from Man City, they also met with Man Utd’s bosses to talk about De Jong.
From Man Utd's point of view, the centre of their midfield has been a glaring weakness for a number of years now. The signing of at least one new central midfielder is a priority this month.
As for Chelsea, it is debatable whether there is such an immediate need for a central midfielder given the presence of top-class players like Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic. But given the uncertainty and age of Jorginho and Kante's future this summer, as well as the injury-proeness of the latter, it cannot be ruled out completely - even if there are more pressing areas of concern.
