‘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 huge transfer coup in their long-standing quest to sign the midfielder, after he reportedly admitted he “wants to continue” at Barcelona.

Erik ten Hag has been a big fan of the Dutch midfielder since he coached the 25-year-old at Ajax and was interested in acquiring the central midfielder last summer.

With his contract due to expire in 2026, De Jong finally opted to stay at Camp Nou last summer and speculation about a potential move to Old Trafford has been bubbling again recently with Sportsmail reporting last week that Man United would be ‘reigniting’ your interest in signing. him.

However, De Jong has now poured cold water on those rumours, stating that he “wants to succeed” at Barcelona.

“Last summer I was always calm because I knew I would stay at Barça and I never changed my mind,” De Jong said in an interview with RAC1 when asked about a possible move to the Premier League.

His comments will be a huge blow to Man United boss Erik ten Hag, who was interested in signing him.

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

It will be a major blow to Ten Hag, whose team is set to battle Liverpool and Chelsea this summer as they all look to enter the market for a new midfielder.

The Dutchman was reportedly interested in a move to United and had told the United manager that he wanted to join the club because he was interested in playing alongside former Madrid player Casemiro in Erik Ten Hag’s midfield.

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

“This new system benefits me,” he said. “I am playing more in the base of the midfield, which is where I feel more comfortable. I have more freedom.

De Jong also admitted that he had ‘benefited’ from playing in Xavi’s four-man midfield.

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

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

‘He [Busquets] He 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.

De Jong has cemented his position in Xavi’s starting XI, making an impressive 32 appearances for the club in all competitions this season, and has scored twice in the league this season.

His improvements have been marked this season, especially working as an additional midfielder in that system, notably impressing with his abilities to advance 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 of the former Barça midfielder. ‘Xavi helps me a lot, all the coaches have helped me in some way. We watch videos with Xavi and he helps me.’

The midfielder assured that playing alongside Sergio Busquets gives him ‘tranquility’

De Jong will seek to win his first LaLiga title with Xavi after four years at the club

While things in the league have been going well for the Blaugrana, with Xavi’s team sitting at the top of La Liga, nine points above rivals Real Madrid, their form in Europe leaves a lot to be desired.

After being eliminated from the Champions League, Barcelona were defeated by Man United, after a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford (4-3 on aggregate).

Despite being ambitious about his team’s ambitions to win “as many titles as possible”, reflecting on Barca’s recent European struggles, De Jong admitted with disappointment that his team underperformed this year, even with a strong squad.

“I expected to go much further in the Champions League and in the last two years we haven’t gone beyond the group stage,” he said. “We have to do much better and this year we had a squad to do it, so we assume it was our fault, hopefully next year we’ll do better.”