Former Manchester United player Luke Chadwick has urged Manchester United to meet Barcelona’s asking price for Dutch international Frenkie De Jong.
Frenkie De Jong joined Barcelona in 2019 and has been impressive since joining the Catalan gaints.De Jong has emerged as the number one transfer target for Erik Ten Hag.
Erik Ten Hag managed Frenkie De Jong at Ajax and was part of the Ajax team that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2018. Barcelona has placed a price tag of €80 million on the Dutch international.
Manchester United has seen their first €70 million bid rejected by Barcelona and the Red Devils are still negotiating with Barcelona to lower their valuation for Frenkie De Jong.
Luke Chadwick has urged his former club to pay the transfer fee Barcelona is asking for and get Erik Ten Hag his man.
He also praised Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold for his openness and his courage in meeting the disgruntled Manchester United fans in a pub.
Richard Arnold met a group of Manchester United fans who were planning to protest in front of his house. In the said meeting, Richard Arnold opened up on Manchester United’s investment in the transfer market in recent times and provided an update on Frenkie De Jong to Manchester United claiming Erik Ten Hag wants him.
What did Luke Chadwick say?
In an interview with Caughtoffside, the former Manchester United Ace said: “It’s quite a strange situation…from what I understand, the meeting with the fans at the pub came about because they were planning to protest at his house. Credit to him, he obviously didn’t want to have any of that on his family.
“He spoke openly and honestly and he must have known that there was a chance the conversation would be recorded in some shape or form. But what he said was good, and honest, and it’s a relief to hear that money is not an issue.
“Signings need to be made, so it’s positive to hear that the money is there to do that and that it will be about whom the manager wants, rather than how much a player costs. I think United fans will be relieved to hear that.
“I can’t see Barcelona shifting their asking price for De Jong. United have been guilty in the past of taking too long and not getting their number one targets, so if De Jong is at the top of Ten Hag’s list, which you’d imagine he is because of their past together, you’d hope United will just meet the asking price.
“They surely have to be ready to pay – he’s done well at Barcelona, he’s not close to the end of his contract. Money shouldn’t be an issue, as Richard Arnold said in the video, so they need to pay what it takes because he’s a player they need.
“Even if it comes to €80-85million, that’s where the market is now. Ten Hag needs to be able to get the players he wants. €85m is a large price, but at the same time, it wasn’t so long ago that he was seen as one of the hottest prospects in European football. I think that’s the kind of market for players of that caliber now.
“De Jong is someone you can build around for a long time and it feels like he’s Ten Hag’s man. He was brilliant at Ajax and had that team built around him to a certain extent. I think it would put a marker down for United and show that they mean business.”
