Man Utd to intensify interest in Barcelona midfielder despite interest from Chelsea

It seems Man Utd are ready to battle it out with Chelsea in the race to sign Barcelona midfielder, Frenkie de Jong this summer.

The latest report revealed Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, has told transfer chiefs at the club not to relent in their pursuit of De Jong, who has also been linked with moves to Chelsea, among others.

Ten Hag wants to reunite with the Dutchman, who he coached during his time at Ajax.

Man Utd have been in talks to sign De Jong for over three months now, but they have been unable to seal a deal for him.

While De Jong is said to be happy at Camp Nou, the Catalans’ financial issues can’t let them keep him especially after they signed some new players this summer.

Barcelona and Man Utd reached an agreement of £72million last month.

The reports revealed that the holdup in the deal is an outstanding amount of around £17m in back payments owed to De Jong by the Spanish side after deferring payments on his wages during the pandemic.

A report via Diario Sport claims Ten Hag is confident that a deal will happen after privately talking with De Jong.