Last night’s fresh wash of rumours that Chelsea were interested in Frenkie De Jong made us think one thing – not that we actually want the midfielder, but that Barcelona are upping the pressure on Man U, the real buyer, to make a move happen sooner.
Chelsea look like they’re being used as a stalking horse in this case. We may have some real interest, but central midfield is low down our list of priorities and De Jong is too much of a premium signing for us as we look to re-tool all over.
Our sense has only been deepened by the leaks from Sport today. The Catalan paper are a real Barca mouthpiece, and they’re today claming that De Jong is still interested – and perhaps more keen – on a move to Chelsea than a move to United, despite the presence of his old boss Eric Ten Hag on the bench there.
Clearly all this is pushing in one direction – getting Man U to stump up the money as soon as possible.