Man Utd DROP interest in long-time target

Tom Weber

• 24 Jul 2023 19:40 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United have officially given up on their pursuit of Frenkie de Jong, according to Spanish media.

The Red Devils have been trying to strike a deal for the Dutch star ever since Erik ten Hag arrived at the club. Last summer, United and Barcelona actually managed to reach an agreement for his transfer, according to reports, but the deal ultimately fell through.

De Jong starred under Ten Hag during their time together at Ajax and it was therefore unsurprising to see the coach interested in reuniting with his former protégé. The feeling was always that Barcelona would eventually be forced to let De Jong leave due to their dire economic situation.

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Indeed, links between United and the 26-year-old never dissipated despite the failed transfer of 2022. Rumours about a potential move this time around again appeared sporadically, but the concrete movement of last year failed to materialise even though Ten Hag is scouring the market for a defensive midfielder.

Perhaps this is due to the Manchester club's restricted budget. Either way, they are now focusing on Fiorentina's Sofyan Amrabat and have relinquished their interest in De Jong.

Man Utd 'surrender'

That is according to Mundo Deportivo, who claim that Manchester United have finally taken the hint and stopped pursuing De Jong after he was named one of Barcelona's four captains for the upcoming season.

"Manchester United tried and continued to try, at least until days ago, through intermediaries to hire him. It is an obsession of Erik Ten Hag," writes the Spanish outlet. But now, "at Barça they say, in any case, that the coach [Ten Hag] has accepted that he will not be able to count on him [De Jong]."

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Just a few weeks ago, Joan Laporta hinted at Barcelona's De Jong stance when, referring to last summer, he said: "We had an offer of €100m for De Jong and we did well not to accept it."