F. de Jong RULES OUT a move to Man Utd and says Barca is 'the club of my dreams'

Manchester United have been dealt a serious blow into any potential pursuit for Frenkie de Jong, after the midfielder reportedly pledged his allegiance to Barcelona.

United boss Erik ten Hag has been a long-standing admirer of the Dutch midfielder since he coached the 25-year-old at Ajax and was keen on acquiring the central midfielder last summer.

The Dutch international instead opted to stay in Spain but interest from United has barely faded and he's a player they've maintained a keen eye on.

However, that all may have been put to bed after the de Jong's recent comments which revealed his plans to stay at Barcelona for 'many years'.

According to TV3, de Jong said: 'I hope I will play at the new Camp Nou. Barcelona is the club of my dreams, so I plan to stay for many years.

The midfielder also reflected on plans for Barcelona's stadium redevelopment, which will begin later this year and continue until 2026.

He continued: 'It looks like it's going to be nice. The plans for the stadium are very good'.

It will come as a big blow for Ten Hag, who's side are set to enter the summer market in search of a midfielder to pair alongside Brazilian star Casemiro.

De Jong had been seen as the ideal candidate, given his previous history working with ten Hag and his impressive performances for the Catalan outfit.

His contributions of two goals and one assist in the LaLiga campaign this year hardly tell the story of de Jong's crucial involvements in the middle of the pitch.

De Jong has cemented his position in Xavi's starting XI, making an impressive 32 appearances for the club across all competitions already this season

United and de Jong have already encountered each other this season in their two-legged Europa League tie last month.

After being knocked out of the Champions League, Barcelona were undone by Man United, following a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford (4-3 on aggregate).

Despite being ambitious about his side's ambitions to win 'as many titles as possible', reflecting on Barca's recent European struggles, De Jong admitted disappointingly that his side had underperformed this year, even with a strong squad.

'I expected to go much further in the Champions League and in the last two years we haven't made it past the group stage,' he said.

'We have to do much better and this year we had a squad to do it, so we assume that it was our fault, we hope that next year we will do better.'