Chelsea 'make opening bid of £33m for Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong'

Chelsea 'have made an opening offer of £33million' for Barcelona misfit Frenkie de Jong but they are set to face competition from Bayern Munich.

Holland midfielder De Jong has been a major disappointment since he arrived at the Nou Camp from Ajax in 2019.

Though the 24-year-old is a regular starter for Barcelona, he has struggled to perform at the standard expected of a £65m signing.

Barcelona are prepared to cut their losses and a number of leading European club are interested in De Jong.

El Nacional report that Chelsea have made an opening bid but it falls short of Barcelona's £50m valuation.

However, they add that Barcelona may accept a lower price of £42m so a small increase from Chelsea may be enough to secure De Jong.

They report that the emergence of youngsters Gavi, 17, and Nico Gonzalez, 20, have strengthened manager Xavi's options in midfield and De Jong may soon be surplus to requirements.

The Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann is known to be an admirer of De Jong and has reportedly asked the club to look into whether a deal can be concluded.

Manchester City have also been linked with the Dutchman, who has scored 10 goals and contributed 14 assists in 117 outings for Barcelona.