‘I want to continue here’: Man United dealt transfer blow in long running pursuit of Frenkie de Jong

Frenkie de Jong has dealt Manchester United a big transfer blow after admitting that he ‘wants to continue’ at Barcelona, according to reports. 

Erik ten Hag has been a long-standing admirer of the Dutch midfielder since he coached the 25-year-old at Ajax and had reportedly been keen on acquiring the central midfielder last summer. 

With his contract expiring in 2026, De Jong ultimately opted to stay at the Camp Nou last summer and speculation around a potential move to Old Trafford has been bubbling again recently with SportsMail reporting last week that Man United would be ‘reigniting’ their interest to sign him.

Yet, De Jong has now extinguished those rumours, claiming that he ‘wants to succeed’ at Barcelona. 

‘Last summer I was always calm as I knew I would stay at Barça and I never changed my mind,’ De Jong said in an interview with RAC1 when asked on a potential move to the Premier League.

Frenkie de Jong has said he ‘wants to continue’ to play for Barcelona amid transfer speculation

His comments will be a big blow to Man United boss Erik ten Hag who was keen on signing him

‘I always dreamed of playing for Barça and I want to succeed here. I want to continue here.’

It will come as a big blow for Ten Hag, who’s side are set to battle it out this summer against Liverpool and Chelsea as they all look to enter the market for a new midfielder. 

The Dutchman was supposedly keen on moving to United, and had told the United coach that he wanted to join the club as he was interested in playing alongside former Madrid man Casemiro in Erik Ten Hag’s midfield.

Yet, despite Barcelona’s poor recent form in Europe, he admitted he was benefitting from playing at the base of Xavi’s new midfield system alongside Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Franck Kessie. 

De Jong also admitted hed been ‘benefitting’ from playing in Xavi’s four-man midfield system

He had featured in Barcelona’s 2-1 Europa League defeat to Manchester United in February  

‘This new system benefits me,’ he said. ‘I’m playing more in the base of midfield, which is where I feel most comfortable. I have more freedom.’

He also said that playing next to Sergio Busquets in the Barcelona midfield gave him ‘a lot of peace of mind’.

‘He [Busquets] gives the team a lot of peace of mind, he is very safe with the ball and defensively he is much better than people think. He cuts a lot of balls, wins practically all the duels, and helps me a lot.’ 

The midfielder claimed that playing alongside Sergio Busquets gave him ‘peace of mind’

De Jong has cemented his position in Xavi’s starting XI, making an impressive 32 appearances for the club across all competitions already this season, and has bagged himself two goals in the league this season.

His improvements have been stark this season, especially working as an additional midfielder in that system, notably impressing with his skills progressing the ball into the final third. 

And that could be down to his relationship with the Barcelona manager, who has been working closely with him to improve his game. 

‘With Xavi I have to continue and improve because every player has room for improvement,’ he said on the former Barca playmaker. ‘Xavi helps me a lot, all the coaches have helped me in some way. With Xavi we look at videos and he helps me.’

While things in the league have been going well for the Blaugrana, with Xavi’s side sitting top of LaLiga – nine points clear of their rivals Real Madrid, their form in Europe has left a lot to be desired. 

De Jong will look to claim his first LaLiga title under Xavi having spent four years at the club

After being knocked out of the Champions League, Barcelona were undone by Man United, following a 2:1 defeat at Old Trafford (4-3 on aggregate). 

On their European struggles, De Jong disappointingly admitted that his side had underperformed this year, despite having a good squad.  

‘I expected to go much further in the Champions League and in the last two years we haven’t made it past the group stage,’ He said. ‘We have to do much better and this year we had a squad to do it, so we assume that it was our fault, we hope that next year we will do better.’