Manchester United transfer blow: Ten Hag may lose out on both Christian Eriksen and De Jong as fresh reports emerge
Chelsea has pushed Manchester United’s long-running pursuit of Barcelona midfielder into question by entering the hunt for his signature.
The Blues are charging on with a dramatic hijacking that will derail Erik ten Hag’s plans for his debut season at Old Trafford.
According to Gerard Romero, who initially reported United’s interest in De Jong, Chelsea is doing “everything” this summer to sign the 25-year-old.
Todd Boehly, the club’s new owner, aims to make an immediate impact at Stamford Bridge by improving Thomas Tuchel’s squad by reuniting De Jong and old Ajax teammate Matthijs de Ligt.
After Chelsea ‘burst’ into the picture for the Netherlands international, two players Barcelona is interested in are ‘on the table,’ according to Spanish source Relevo.
The La Liga giants want to bring Blues skipper Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso for the 2022/23 season.
Despite the fact that the source claims De Jong and the two Chelsea players are part of ‘separate operations,’ all three names are being mentioned in the same negotiations.
The west London club is thought to be’very interested’ in the offer and might jeopardise the core of their Premier League rivals’ summer signing strategy.
Thomas Frank still in dialogue in re-signing Christian Eriksen despite Manchester United agreement
Brentford manager Thomas Frank has stated that the Bees are still aiming to sign Christian Eriksen for a second season, and that he is in talks with the playmaker.
Only seven months after suffering an on-field heart arrest during Euro 2020, the midfielder made an amazing comeback in January.
Before his contract with Brentford expired, he finished the season with four assists and a goal against Chelsea.
A number of top six clubs, notably Manchester United, were interested in his form.
Erik ten Hag made a bid for the former Ajax player last month, and the player verbally agreed to terms earlier this week.
However, it appears that Brentford, who have offered Eriksen a new contract, are still hopeful of reuniting with the Dane. In fact, Frank stated that he is still in contact with the star.
Speaking to BT , he said: “Right now he’s not a Brentford player, but he’s not a player with anyone else either.
“It may well be that right now it looks like it’s going to be a different place than with us, but let’s see. What am I supposed to answer to that?
“I have to be optimistic, but I do read newspapers. Let’s see what happens.”
He added: “I’m communicating with Christian, but we’ll keep that to ourselves until he’s either signed here or somewhere else. We’ve offered him a contract and he’s had to figure out what he wants to do with his life and career.
“So he has an offer from us, but I don’t know what else is. I assume, however, that there are offers from just about everyone else.
“I talked to him for five minutes up in the national team camp [in June] and we have been in dialogue since. But I have not met him in Copenhagen. We have told him our good story here, and he knows that version.”
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Manchester United transfer blow: Ten Hag may lose out on both Christian Eriksen and De Jong as fresh reports emerge
