Chelsea, Man Utd, PSG to battle for Barcelona midfielder

FC Barcelona are willing to let go of the Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong as the club no longer consider him “untouchable” and multiple big clubs have already lined up their plans to sign the 26-year-old.

De Jong was signed for €75 million from Ajax in 2019 and he is the highest earner in La Liga, making €24.8 million a year so far.

The Dutchman did not meet the expectations and has been performing poorly for a long time. For a long time, the club considered him “non-transferable” but the Blaugrana has decided that they will sell the Dutchman should a handsome offer arrive.

Chelsea, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain are already in line to fight for De Jong. He was heavily linked to a move to Erik Ten Hag’s, his former manager, side in summer 2022 but the deal didn’t go through as the 26-year-old opted to stay at Barcelona.

According to SPORT, Chelsea is willing to pay £85m to add the Dutchman in their midfield of two €100m signings, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.

The Blues have already spent around £280 in building their midfielder over the past 12 months and they have no plans to stop anytime soon, at least not before they are good enough to challenge for the Premier League.

On the other hand, after United failed to complete De Jong’s signing, they spent £60m to sign Real Madrid’s Casemiro. The Brazilian had a stellar first season with the Red Devils as he played a key role in their Carabao Cup win and helped them finish in the top four of the Premier League.

However, Casemiro’s fitness issues this season have forced the club to think of the Brazilian’s departure and in turn, United may soon renew their interest in De Jong.

PSG are also trying to sign De Jong but their negative relation with Barca could make the deal difficult.