Frenkie de Jong will only agree to leave Barcelona to join Chelsea but Blues won’t match Manchester United offer

Frenkie de Jong will only agree to leave Barcelona this summer to join Chelsea – but the Blues are reluctant to match Manchester United’s offer for the midfielder, according to reports.

De Jong is currently with Barcelona’s first-team squad on their pre-season tour of America and held talks with the club’s hierarchy earlier this week.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta and Nou Camp manager Xavi hoped the situation would be resolved after the talks but De Jong’s future is still up in the air.

De Jong has made 140 appearances for Barca since joining from Ajax in 2019 and is keen to remain at his dream club and play a starring role in their rebuild under Xavi.

But Barcelona, facing immense financial difficulties, view De Jong as an ideal player to sell as his departure could raise around 80m euros.

The situation is complicated further by the fact Barcelona still owe De Jong around 17m euros in deferred wages and will need him to take a pay cut if he does end up staying.

Spanish outlet Sport say De Jong is ‘confused’ and ‘hurt’ by the developments, especially as Barcelona continue to spend big on summer signings.

It is also claimed that if De Jong is forced out of Barcelona, he is only interested in joining Chelsea as he still has reservations about a move to Manchester United.

De Jong played under new United boss Erik ten Hag at Ajax and this was one of the reasons United were said to be leading the race to secure his signature.

But reports in Spain say De Jong still has doubts about the Red Devils and would push for a move to Stamford Bridge if he was exiled by Barcelona.

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