Manchester United have been waiting for Frenkie de Jong’s approval for the best part of two months, but with no sign of it on the horizon, may be forced to change tack.
New manager Erik ten Hag wanted de Jong as the cornerstone as part of his fresh start at United, but the Dutch midfielder is not keen on leaving behind Champions League football.
It was recently claimed that United would be willing to wait until the last day of the transfer window for de Jong. In spite of ten Hag’s insistence, it appears as if the club are beginning to lose hope.
According to Fabrizio Romano, as revealed in his exclusive substack column with Caught Offside, United have lined up two key alternatives to de Jong. Curiously one of them has been linked with Barcelona in recent months.
Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans and Wolves’ Ruben Neves are the two other names on the table. The latter has been earmarked as a potential long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets, but Barcelona appear to have parked their interest for now at least.
It would be curious if United did opt for Tielemans as a de Jong alternate, as the two players normally occupy different spaces on the pitch.
