Gary Neville claims It will be ‘horrific’ if Frenkie de Jong ends up moving to Chelsea and would be something ‘one does not even contemplate thinking about’.
The De Jong saga has dominated Manchester United’s transfer window with the Dutchman being Erik ten Hag’s top target throughout the summer.
The midfielder played under United’s new boss at Ajax and Ten Hag is desperate for a reunion at Old Trafford.
It looked like the deal had been done at one point after the Red Devils agreed a £63million fee with Barcelona.
But De Jong’s reluctance to leave the Nou Camp, along with significant complications with the Spanish giant’s finances with disputes over unpaid wages to the Dutchman, means the move is looking increasingly unlikely.
De Jong was reportedly unwilling to move to a club not in the Champions League, with Ten Hag’s side competing in the Europa League this season.
And it could be about to get worse for United as Chelsea have reportedly agreed a £68m fee for the player.
If the midfielder does move to Stamford Bridge, it would be devastating for United, according to Neville.
‘If they (United) don’t get him, it’s embarrassing but if he goes to Chelsea, it’s horrific,’ he told Football Daily, speaking ahead of United’s Premier League defeat to Brighton.
‘If he doesn’t want to come the deal would have been switched off a few weeks ago.
‘Because of the relationship the player has with the manager, there must be some communication between them that’s saying, ‘wait for me I’m coming’.
‘There are three outcomes. One, he comes and Man United look smart and patient.
‘The second is that he stays at Barca and there’s a bit of embarrassment because they’ve put all their eggs in one basket, and they haven’t got anyone else in.
‘They’ve got a void in the squad, they’re starting the season with Fred and McTominay, and it makes them look like they can’t get a deal over the line.
‘The third one does not even contemplate thinking about – he goes to a rival club in the Premier League against the manager who he’d worked under for the previous few years.’
United’s midfield was again woefully exposed during Sunday’s dismal 2-1 loss to Graham Potter’s side with Fred and Scott McTominay heavily criticised for their performances.
Ten Hag is set to strengthen his midfield in spite of the lack of progress on De Jong, with Juventus’s Adrien Rabiot expected to sign for £15m but there are question marks surrounding his attitude and suitability to Ten Hag’s system.
AlexanderMadrid
76
Barcelona can hijack players from Chelsea 100% but on no account in this milky Mysterious Galaxy will a player chooses Manchester United over Chelsea. Chelsea can still offer any player Champions league Football every season and looks more competitive than Manchester United. So De Jong choosing Chelsea over man United is definitely a 150% wise decision 💯
Podabilry
16
No top 🔝 player will join utd until cr5 exit utd. Messi helped young players to excel ad provides lots assist for then, Mbappe greatest ad most successful season came playing alongside Messi and he got the highest goals of his career. Pedri became a world 🌎 class player at 18 playing alongside Messi. Fati received lots of help from Messi to become heir of Messi at camp ⛺ nou and inherited Iconic number 10 jersey 🇯🇪 and no single Messi player has hated on fati for wearing number 📱 10 jersey 🇯🇪 but even cr5 and his fan never want to see anyone wearing number 7 and prosper, they are so jealous, insecure and selfish. Rasford, sancho , fred , mctomaney etc became worst playing alongside Cristiano just for one season. Messi was an inspiration to Mbappe, fati, pedri, etc but Cr5 demoralizes utd young players just because they didn't pass the ball to him, he raises his hands up and complain, goes to instagram and call those young lad not good enough and kill their moral and self esteem, that's what you will never find Messi do. Mbape remained at psg and rejected Madrid because he love playing alongside Messi who decided to sacrifice everything last season just to convince Mbape to stay but cristiano is never capable of making such huge sacrifice for the team but instead he demands passes from same players he referred to as "not good enough "