Dwight Yorke claims Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong did not rule out a move to Manchester United during a chat between them but wanted to work with Xavi first.
Yorke was recently in charge of Australian club Macarthur FC with his first game a friendly against the Catalan giants last summer, in which the Dutch midfielder played. That match came as United had an initial transfer fee of £56.2million agreed with Barca to sign the 25-year-old.
However, the deal did not materialise as De Jong instead preferred to remain at Camp Nou for this season. The midfielder is once again top of United’s summer transfer shortlist as his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag aims to bring him to Old Trafford.
De Jong’s preference is again to stay at the Blaugrana but that situation could change over the coming months. Ten Hag keen to bolster his midfield ranks. He believes the Dutchman would be the perfect accompaniment for Christian Eriksen and Casemiro, of whom De Jong is a huge admirer.
United’s priority is to sign a new number nine striker while they are also keen to add a new goalkeeper to their squad, but midfield remains a key objective for Ten Hag. De Jong was a key part of his early successes at Ajax, and starred during the Dutch club’s run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.
Former striker Yorke has now claimed that De Jong has not ruled out a move to United and his decision to stay at Barca last summer was motivated by his desire to see how the club progressed under boss Xavi Hernandez this season.
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"I actually spoke to Frenkie de Jong when we played against him in the A-League All-Stars game in Australia," Yorke told Premier League Betting. "I have a little bit of insight, he wanted to see what Barcelona would become under the new guidance of Xavi and see how that panned out before he decided if he wanted to join Manchester United.
"But there is a Dutch connection with Erik ten Hag, De Jong would be a great pick because he's an excellent player. He would be the player that would fit into that midfield next to Casemiro and give us a bit more stability. Manchester United would have a very solid core to the team if he was to join."
Barca are nine points clear at the top of La Liga and are in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey but endured another disappointing European campaign. They were eliminated at the group stages of the Champions League before being edged out by United in the Europa League playoff round last month.
