Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong was asked about his failed transfer move to Manchester United over the summer ahead of the Netherlands World Cup game against Qatar.
The Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong resisted the temptation to reveal how close he was to switch to Manchester United from Barcelona over the summer.
Man United spent the majority of the summer transfer window trying to convince De Jong to join them as Erik ten Hag was reportedly planning on building the team around him.
There were some sound reports claiming that the Red Devils had reached an agreement with Barcelona for the transfer of the Dutchman but the deal didn’t fall in place because he didn’t want to play in the Europa League.
Some reports claimed that the former Ajax midfielder refused to leave Barcelona because he’s at his dream club while some reports in Spain held that the Netherlands international snubbed a move away from Barca due to the deferred wages he’s being owed by the Catalans.
However, when asked, ahead of the Netherlands’ World Cup game against Qatar on Tuesday, how close he was to joining Manchester United over the summer, he said: “I am at a World Cup tournament. I am not going to talk about club football.”
Failure to lure De Jong from Barcelona inspired Manchester United to turn their attention elsewhere and eventually lured Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro.
So far, the Brazilian has impressed a large part of Man United fans with his top performances and there are suggestions among the Red Army that the former Real Madrid midfielder was exactly whom the club had lacked in recent years.