Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

[Damien]

Bellingham gets linked with Liverpool all the time but won’t he cost in excess of £100m? Liverpool never have spent that sort of cash and it’s hard to imagine them doing so, no?

They've spent big on a number of players and even had a net spend of over 100m the summer they signed Alisson, Keita and Fabinho.

They signed Nunez for £64m rising to £85m
They had the world record fee for a goalkeeper signed (£67m) until you broke it later that summer
They had the world record fee for a defender signed (£75m) until we broke it a couple years later

They'll probably manage to get Bellingham for just under the 100m mark but won't have an issue spending that amount.

 

[Adisa]

A deal agreed with the agent is not a big deal. Pretty sure Chelsea can quickly agree a deal with his agent.
What is clear is that if he is forced to leave the only way he is coming here is if Chelsea pull out.

 

[spaceboyRSA]

And the train keeps Choo Chooing

 

[hellhunter]

A deal agreed with the agent is not a big deal. Pretty sure Chelsea can quickly agree a deal with his agent.
What is clear is that if he is forced to leave the only way he is coming here is if Chelsea pull out.

Why would his agent agree a deal with us if he's not interested in joining?

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Chelsea journos coming out with info. He is going there it seems.

 

[Chief123]

Lukaku, Varane, Shaw and Sancho?

Lukaku and Shaw I can see it, but I never heard of them being keen to sign Varane and Sancho had decided he wanted Manchester.

I still think when it comes head to head, when Chelsea really have the desire to get a player they always beat us unless it comes down to the player being adamant they want Utd over Chelsea.

 

[Brownie85]

Chelsea journos coming out with info. He is going there it seems.

Most info is just recycled news or news from a while ago just refreshed.

Nothing has changed and nothing likely will change for a while yet. Barca will register their players most likely and this will rumble on

 

[ChippyTea]

I really really hope that Chelsea are being taken for a ride here and the info coming from them is from Barca, to the owner, to the journos. It's not THAT far fetched.

Hope you are right too, but it's concerning that we haven't had any snippets from the press, the manager or anyone else at Chelsea rubbishing the claim. Normally after this much media interest a journo will get something from a contact at the club suggesting claims are untrue - like the Bernado Silva stuff yesterday.

 

[JPRouve]

Lukaku and Shaw I can see it, but I never heard of them being keen to sign Varane and Sancho had decided he wanted Manchester.

I still think when it comes head to head, when Chelsea really have the desire to get a player they always beat us unless it comes down to the player being adamant they want Utd over Chelsea.

Check it and you will find it, in fact people couldn't shut up about the idea that both players would choose London over Manchester.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Most info is just recycled news or news from a while ago just refreshed.

Nothing has changed and nothing likely will change for a while yet. Barca will register their players most likely and this will rumble on

The previous info said that Chelsea wouldn't even lodge a bid if the player wasn't interested. Now they are close to agreeing a fee with Barcelona. So I see some new developments there.

 

[sewey89]

There were reports that Boehly spoke directly to FdJ but the answer was that he prefers to stay at Barca and if he decided to move he'd be open to going to Chelsea.

Indeed. But there were also lots of reports that he'd spoken to EtH. Who knows whats happening really

 

[Brownie85]

The previous info said that Chelsea wouldn't even lodge a bid if the player wasn't interested. Now they are close to agreeing a fee with Barcelona. So I see some new developments there.

They've been close to agreeing a fee for a while depending on what source you look at.

Some say they're in advanced negotiations, some say they won't bid until de Jong gives them the go ahead, some say a fee is close to being agreed.

It's just round and round in circles at this point. Romero will chip in soon saying de Jong to Chelsea is HOT HOT HOT HOT and nothing will happen

 

[Judas]

I think its clear we have an agreement with his agent, but does that mean the player also agreed?

Id say yes. Seems a little far fetched he’d do it without the players consent. But who knows with this mess of a transfer.

 

[Teja]

Indeed. But there were also lots of reports that he'd spoken to EtH. Who knows whats happening really

Yep. Let's see how this shakes out. If our interest in SMS really accelerates then I assume we walked away from the deal fully. If not then it's still within the realms of possibility that we sign FdJ and Rabiot + Gakpo.

It's possible we finish the summer with Martinez (57M), Eriksen (0M), Malacia (14M), Rabiot (17m) and Gakpo (35m) = 123M. Fairly average transfer window for us in terms of money spent.

 

[Andy_Cole]

Clearly this is Chelsea or Barca now. We're not in contention.

 

[Adisa]

Why would his agent agree a deal with us if he's not interested in joining?

Chelsea only showed interest till fairly recently. It would not make sense to rule us out if we were the only interested party. Agents agree deals with all sorts of clubs all the time.

 

[MUFC OK]

I'm being 100% serious. I'm asking you for just one link and you are avoiding it. I'm not sure who is on the wind up. These "several reports" which are all news outlets right? I'm afraid that is not concrete information which confirms FDJ would never join utd. It goes back to my original point, you are not an ITK just like everyone else. You have zero information what is truly going on with this saga.

Did I once claim to be an ITK? You've clearly got your knickers in a twist over this, I've formed my opinion based on what has been reported.

The Spanish press has almost exclusively stated that he will not join us (Sport, mundo deportivo etc). British press has been slightly more optimistic. If you choose to believe that the British press reports are more reliable that's up to you. Like you said it's just football so calm it down.

 

[hellhunter]

Chelsea only showed interest till fairly recently. It would not make sense to rule us out if we were the only interested party. Agents agree deals with all sorts of clubs all the time.

Not clubs where the player is adamant he won't play for

 

[Rajiztar]

If barcelona want Silva much they would have swapped directly with city but de Jong and his family just not keen to go to manchester is actual problem I assume. City champions of England and have every chance to win every thing as well. One of the Greatest manager in the world and all.

Same problem for united as well. It's like his girlfriend don't want to goto Manchester. It's may be personal family thing than de Jong himself not want to join Manchester United.

 

[MUFC OK]

Link us up with all the direct quotes from Frenkie.

Never said there were direct quotes.

 

[Orc]

I think whoever signs De Jong, whether it be United or Chelsea, we won’t actually see any reporting about bids going in etc. It’ll just be announced as done and signed out of the blue.

 

[James35]

Hopefully they will tie up the deal in the next couple of days or FDJ once again refuses to leave full stop. Just put the muppets out of their misery one way or the other.

As for the club, boy we really are in the gutter it seems. Just calamity after calamity, the Arnautovic thing was the icing on the cake this window, FDJ holding up a Chelsea shirt will be the cherry.

I’m sure the spin will soon come out that they haven’t been waiting for De Jong - or they refused to pay over the odds etc etc. it can never be their fault when they end up looking like complete mugs.

I can’t imagine the scenes if we lose to Brentford and then have to host Liverpool as their yearly whipping boys, the following week…to be a fly on the wall in Richard Arnold’s office!

 

[Brownie85]

Are you being serious? There have been several reports, the vast majority saying that he didn't want to join us/had no intention, wanted CL football, didn't want Manchester etc. All sounded pretty conclusive to me, you'd have to be suffering from a serious case of confirmation bias to dismiss all of that.

But... where are the quotes from Frenkie?

You're listing journalist comments, mostly opinion based reports as there is sweet feck all coming from de Jongs camp at the moment, so how can they know what Frenkie wants if he doesn't say anything. They can print "oh his team mates have said this or that" but it's not verifyable and because no one is named as saying anything, they can be attributed to "bad information" if untrue. Simple

 

[DavelinaJolie]

Link us up with all the direct quotes from Frenkie.

It's a bit disingenuous saying stuff like this, Laporta is currently saying they want to keep De Jong, so should we take him at his word?

We know most transfer dealings rarely involve public statements from individuals in process of negotiation. We don't really know where this stands, and kind of just thave to piece it together from the information we do get given.

 

[Berbaclass]

 

[House Mkhitaryan]

 

[crossy1686]

A mistake to choose a CL winning manager over an Eredivisie winning manager?

Wait, what? He’s signing up with Di Matteo’s new team?

You heard it here first folks.

 

[Fanta Stick]

Never said there were direct quotes.

Most of these reports are hugely speculative and in the case of certain Spanish media just made up to suit Barcelona's agenda.

 

[bosnian_red]

The only reason United haven't formally pulled out at this point are because it would be more embarassing to chase for 2.5 months and then pull out before it's resolved rather than just stick in it and lose out at this point (in the club's eyes). He's not coming here, it's painfully obvious. My only hope is he just stays at Barca and doesn't go to Chelsea.

 

[crossy1686]

Chelsea journos coming out with info. He is going there it seems.

Or they’ve all just spoken to Harry Redknapp recently seeing as they’re all at least tier 2 on the Chelsea list.

 

[Fanta Stick]

It's a bit disingenuous saying stuff like this, Laporta is currently saying they want to keep De Jong, so should we take him at his word?

We know most transfer dealings rarely involve public statements from individuals in process of negotiation. We don't really know where this stands, and kind of just thave to piece it together from the information we do get given.

Laporta is a politician.

 

[Abraxas]

The only reason United haven't formally pulled out at this point are because it would be more embarassing to chase for 2.5 months and then pull out before it's resolved rather than just stick in it and lose out at this point (in the club's eyes). He's not coming here, it's painfully obvious. My only hope is he just stays at Barca and doesn't go to Chelsea.

That's a weird logic, if true. I think it looks stronger to sack it off when it's unviable and secure a different target.

Hanging around only to leave with your tail between your legs at the last second having been stood up for the whole summer looks daft.

 

[Plant0x84]

Ten Hag is an idiot if de Jong goes to Chelsea.

You’re just going to assume Erik knew Frenkie wouldnt come, he was told no explicitly yet he continued to chase anyway?! Sounds legit.

 

[Judas]

The new news of us actually having everything agreed with the lad is a bit surprising. Choo choooooo I suppose.

 

[Brownie85]

The only reason United haven't formally pulled out at this point are because it would be more embarassing to chase for 2.5 months and then pull out before it's resolved rather than just stick in it and lose out at this point (in the club's eyes). He's not coming here, it's painfully obvious. My only hope is he just stays at Barca and doesn't go to Chelsea.

Ummmm no it's really not. They'd pull out and say that ongoing disputes between Barca and de Jong drove them to the decision that it wasn't worth pursuing due to the complexities involved.
If we didn't pull out and he signed for Chelsea, it would be a lot more damaging to the club to be rejected after a long chase!

 

[Von Mistelroum]

We just have to be smarter. Sign players who can take us into the top four. Then when that’s done bin them off and sign a higher calibre. It really isn’t that complicated. Look at how City did it.

Except that we're incredibly badly run and this isn't likely to happen at all as a result

 

[hellhunter]

The new news of us actually having everything agreed with the lad is a bit surprising. Choo choooooo I suppose.

If it's true, it would likely be the biggest update of this transfer since we agreed a fee

 

[reelworld]

They’re very different midfielders, so no. More likely that Kante or Jorginho‘s position is under threat by De Jong.

You'll phase out Jorginho and start de Jong with Kante. That's a fantastic midfield tbh if you can get Kante to stay healthy. Nl

 

[bosnian_red]

That's a weird logic, if true. I think it looks stronger to sack it off when it's unviable and secure a different target.

Hanging around only to leave with your tail between your legs at the last second having been stood up for the whole summer looks daft.

We've already moved on to other targets as the first step, so while we won't formally move on, we will try for other players and say "still in for him" but just know he won't come, and the money will (hopefully) be spent anyway.

 

[No Idea For Nickname]