Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong was a top Manchester United transfer target back in the summer.Barcelona are ready to sell Frenkie de Jong in the wake of their imminent failure to reach the Champions League knockout stages, according to reports.
The Netherlands international is seen as the best chance of securing a big fee to balance their finances, with Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets unlikely to cost anything. And this news will put Manchester United on red alert, with the Red Devils previously missing out on a deal for the 25-year-old back in the summer.
Barcelona were prepared to jettison De Jong back in the summer, with Xavi open to cutting the player loose due to the presence of the likes of Pedri and Gavi.
But though United probed a deal, and even agreed a fee of £72million for the midfielder, they ended up missing out.
According to the Daily Mail, however, Barcelona are now likely to try and sell De Jong again due to their woes in the Champions League.
The La Liga giants had budgeted to reach the knockout stages of the competition, which is why they forked out £132m on fresh faces such as Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha back in the summer.
He isn’t the only player with an uncertain future at the Nou Camp, either.
Sergino Dest isn’t expected to return, with the USA international spending the season on loan at AC Milan – despite being linked with United in the summer.
Memphis Depay is primed to go, with the forward no longer a regular in Xavi’s starting XI.
And Barcelona are also open to offloading Ferran Torres, despite only recruiting the Spain international from Manchester City back in January.
It’s certainly been an underwhelming European campaign from the Catalan giants so far. They have won just once – against Viktoria Plzen – and have lost to Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in the competition to date.
And it seems only a matter of time before they make yet another attempt to balance their finances, with their need for that certainly growing.
Regarding De Jong, meanwhile, former United star Jaap Stam thinks it will have been disappointing for his old side to miss out on the Barcelona star.
Speaking recently to the Manchester Evening News, he said: “It probably was a big disappointment because Frenkie is a world-class player.
“He[Ten Hag] needs to fill in that position with different players. Up until now, he’s doing it well.
“[Scott] McTominay is growing, [Christian] Eriksen is doing really well and Bruno [Fernandes] is playing better. Casemiro has come in, so he can make that choice.
“That’s really important for the coach. If you want to play a certain way, you have to have players in there who can adapt to the system.
“It was a disappointment, but they need to move on. You need to work, you can’t dwell on what happened.
“It depends on the players [January move for De Jong] he’s got there now and how they’re performing. They’re learning and making progress with how he wants them to play.
“I think this player, Frenkie, with the ability that he has, is always interesting.” Barcelona are next in action against fierce rivals Real Madrid on Sunday (3.15pm).
