Frenkie De Jong Publicly Rules Out Manchester United Transfer From FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has ruled out a move to Manchester United during an interview on Catalan radio.

The Dutchman featured on the ‘Tu Diras’ program on RAC1 Thursday evening, and was asked about a time last summer when Barca reportedly accepted a €80 million ($84.6 million) offer for him from the PremierPINC
League giants.

De Jong decided to stay put with reports claiming that United’s lack of Champions League football and a desire to succeed under head coach Xavi Hernandez were his primary motives for doing so.

While there was a media frenzy around his future in one of the biggest transfer sagas of the year, De Jong recalled: “I was fine. Calm, because I knew I wanted to continue at Barca and I have not changed my mind.”

“I am very happy and I want to continue for many years at Barca,” he later reiterated, when probed on a potential switch to Old Trafford once more.

De Jong explained that he is “very happy, comfortable, and participating more in the game,” in the 2022/2023 season, where he has flourished under Xavi as Barca enjoy a nine-point lead at the top of the La Liga table.

“With him I have to continue and improve because each player has room to do it. Xavi helps me a lot, all the coaches have helped me with something,” the 25-year-old revealed, of life under the legendary former number ‘6’ and his staff.

On what lies ahead for the rest of the term, De Jong said that he is “very excited” to potentially lift the Spanish top flight crown, which is the “main objective this year”.

“We are going for all the possible titles, we have an advantage in the league and the cup (where Barca lead Madrid 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals) and with a very good team and squad. Let’s go for both,” the playmaker demanded.

De Jong said that doing a domestic treble would represent an “extraordinary season”, though he didn’t ignore Barca’s failures on the continent where they crashed in the Champions League group phase for the second year running before being turfed out of the Europa League playoffs by United.

“What has happened in Europe has been very hard,” he confessed. “I expected to go further in the Champions League and the last two years have been very bad. We have not gone beyond the group stage. We have to do much better.”

With rumors continuing to spread that United will come in for De Jong again ahead of 2023/2024, Culers will be pleased with him pledging his commitment to the cause once more.

As soon as they have got their Financial Fair Play house in order, Barca must look towards extending De Jong’s current contract even if a fresh expiration date is only a couple of years past its current limit of June 30, 2026.

Though De Jong should be cherished for years to come in the first team, taking their eye off the ball here could see Barca allow him to enter the last 12 months of his agreement. They would then be forced to sell him for a cut fee in 2025 if he doesn’t finally walk to Old Trafford – this time on a free.