Barcelona president Joan Laporta may have inadvertently hinted that Chelsea have made an offer for midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
De Jong has been heavily pursued by Manchester United over the last few months but no deal has yet been agreed, with Spanish outlet Sport even claiming the 25-year-old views the Red Devils as "erratic" whilst the fact that they aren't in the UEFA Champions League next season may also play a part in his reluctance to join United this summer. Chelsea have also been credited with an interest in the Dutch international and the aforementioned Laporta has now admitted that multiple offers have been lodged for the talented playmaker during the summer transfer window.
Speaking about the former Ajax star to ESPN, he said: "Frenkie is our player, we really like him. We received some offers for Frenkie but we didn’t accept as of now, as we want to talk with him and know exactly what he wants. We need to clarify some aspects of his situation."
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"Some offers" means clubs other than Manchester United have lodged bids and de Jong would certainly be a welcome addition to Thomas Tuchel's midfield, which currently has two key players into the final 12 months of their contract in the form of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho. football.london understands talks are yet to begin with either player over a new deal as things stand, meaning the west London club could lose them both for nothing next summer.
Kante has suffered with a plethora of fitness problems in recent times whilst Jorginho has been linked with a return to Serie A, although his agent Joao Santos has since claimed that talks regarding a new deal could take place in a couple of months. Speaking to TUTTOmercatoWEB (via 90min), Santos said: “Chelsea are the priority.
"His contract will expire in 2023. I think we will talk about the renewal from September.” Several players also came off Chelsea's bench in the second half that could very well be leaving this summer.
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