Frenkie de Jong’s transfer saga is getting complicated as each day passes with Barcelona president now dismissing the rumours linking the midfielder to Chelsea.
Barcelona have repeatedly failed to persuade De Jong to join Manchester United after striking a €75 million deal with the Red Devils.
The move has reportedly stalled over the Catalans’ failure to pay €20 million in wages to the Dutch midfielder. Moreover, lack of Champions League football at United is also being touted as one of the reasons De Jong doesn’t fancy an Erik ten Hag reunion.
However, recent reports claim that the 25-year-old could be open to join Chelsea over United. But Laporta has once again dismissed those reports despite holding a meeting with Chelsea owner Todd Boehly.
Laporta claims no talks with Boehly for Frenkie de Jong
Chelsea have shown interest in landing Frenkie de Jong and have been monitoring his situation with United. Thomas Tuchel feels De Jong is a versatile player who would pump robustness in his midfield if signed.
But Laporta has bluntly denied any reports of De Jong being offered to the London club. In his recent interview to CBSSportsGolazo Laporta said, “We’ve never offered de Jong to Chelsea. No, no, no. We had a nice dinner with Boehly in Barcelona and we talked about football.”
Chelsea and Barcelona seem to share bitter-sweet relations since their tussle over as many as three players in this summer transfer window.
Both the clubs battled over the signings of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde who were all snapped up by the Catalans.
Moreover, Barcelona snatched Raphinha and Kounde from the clutches of Chelsea despite the Blues agreeing deals for both of them.
On the other hand, reports of Barcelona and Chelsea now working together on deals of Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso have emerged with Laporta even revealing there is ‘no problem’ with Chelsea.
The Bara president continued, “[Todd] Boehly, extraordinary person. No problem with Chelsea. It just so happens that some of the players they wanted, we did also…”.
While De Jong has been against a move to United all summer long, Laporta has admitted that the midfielder could end up staying at the club.
Barcelona expect De Jong to accept to a major pay-cut, which the midfielder has been reluctant of.
On being asked what are the club’s plans if Frenkie de Jong doesn’t take a pay, Laporta replied, “Then he will continue, he’s under contract. We will respect that decision.” Only the end of this transfer window could now tell where does Frenkie de Jong end up.