"Sources..." - Journalist drops behind-scenes Man Utd and Frenkie de Jong claim

Manchester United were “given hope” over their deal for Frenkie de Jong by Barcelona privately offering up the midfielder to Chelsea, according to Ben Jacobs of CBS.

The club have been linked with the Netherlands international throughout the summer, but an agreement for the transfer of the midfielder now seems to have been reached between the two clubs.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United and Barcelona have reached “full agreement” for the signing of de Jong for a package worth close to £72m, but there are still issues on personal terms, with the Dutchman’s priority being to remain at the Camp Nou.

According to the Mirror, United chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough had travelled to Barcelona to try and get the deal for de Jong over the line, but they left the Catalan capital empty-handed, with the deal still no closer to completion.

Indeed, according to reports in Spain, Chelsea had joined the race for the 44-time Netherlands international, which will come as a worry to Erik ten Hag and his United side, due to the fact that their Premier League rivals can offer Champions League football this season, whilst the Manchester club finished sixth in the Premier League and trophyless last season, meaning they will be competing in the Europa League this campaign.

But Jacobs believes that United still had hope in bringing the Dutchman to United this season, with Barcelona president Joan Laporta being inconsistent with his words and actions.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “What will have given United hope is, despite Laporta publicly saying de Jong would stay, privately Barca also offered up de Jong to Chelsea and sources said they were very much open to a sale.

“It’s a classic example of Laporta