Manchester United told to leave Barcelona player alone

Photo: Jeroen Meuwsen/BSR Agency/Getty Images

Manchester United are keen on signing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, and Barcelona are also willing to sell, in order to balance the books.

However, the 25-year-old midfielder has said that he’d prefer to stay at Barcelona, his dream club.

TalkSPORT reporter Alex Crook has warned Manchester United against signing a player that doesn’t want to leave the club.

He said: “There are clear links between Ten Hag and De Jong, and from what I’m told talks between Manchester United, De Jong and Barcelona do seem to be accelerating.

“To such an extent that they’re putting talks for Darwin Nunez – another of Ten Hag’s top targets – slightly on the back burner for now.

“For me, the answer to their problems in that position for a long time has been Declan Rice. I think he would be a transformative signing for Manchester United, but that’s not going to happen this summer in terms of signing from West Ham.

“De Jong is a very talented player, but the reason I’m a little bit hesitant about it is he’as come out publicly and said he wants to stay at Barcelona and wants to play in the Champions League – he’s not going to get that at Manchester United.

“I don’t know if Manchester United should be almost on their hands and knees at this stage begging a player to join them.

“They need to get away from that. If a player is not 100 per cent committed to joining the cause, I think they should walk away.”