Romano reveals truth after claims Man Utd ‘accelerate’ transfer as September deal takes ‘unexpected turn’
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists Frenkie de Jong is “fully focused” on Barcelona amid speculation that Man Utd are interested.
The Red Devils had one of the most successful transfer windows in the Premier League over the summer with Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte arriving at Old Trafford.
Man Utd balanced their incomings out with a number of outgoings too, as Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood, Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Willy Kambwala, Hannibal Mejbri, Facundo Pellistri, Alvaro Carreras and Donny van de Beek left for transfer fees, Raphael Varane and Omari Forson departed on free transfers, while Jadon Sancho joined Chelsea in a season-long loan deal.
But there has been transfer speculation past the end of the summer window shutting with reports in Spain insisting that Man Utd had once again ‘sets his sights on’ Barcelona midfielder De Jong.
Any mooted January deal seemed to hang on Casemiro leaving with the Brazilian being linked to Turkish side Galatasaray following a shaky start to the new season at Old Trafford.
It was claimed that Man Utd planned on ‘accelerating’ a deal for De Jong after Casemiro’s situation at Old Trafford had ‘taken an unexpected turn in recent weeks’.
Romano recently rubbished the idea of Casemiro leaving as he will likely be around until “at least 2025” despite links to the Turkish Super Lig giants.
He wrote on X on Thursday: “Casemiro, currently expected to stay at Man United at least until 2025 despite links with Galatasaray move.
“Brazilian midfielder not planning to leave the club now, no concrete talks taking place with Gala.”
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And now he has also rubbished claims that Man Utd made contact with De Jong over the summer in an attempt to prise him away from Barcelona.
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “We once again this summer had many stories about Frenkie de Jong’s future at Barcelona, and there were new links with Manchester United, as we’ve so often seen before.
“The latest we’ve heard is that Man United made some contact with De Jong during a moment when they weren’t so sure if the Manuel Ugarte deal was going to happen. However, I can tell you that this summer, the reality is that there was absolutely nothing.
“There was zero between De Jong and Man United, because the reality is that De Jong never wanted to leave Barcelona. De Jong is fully focused on Barcelona, and it’s also important to note that he’s too expensive for Man United – his salary is very high and so it was something impossible for United this summer.
“We’ll see what happens in the future, but this summer it was also the case that United wanted a different kind of midfielder anyway, more of a defensive midfielder than De Jong. Ugarte was the only option, their top target, and so there was never any possibility to go for De Jong – between United, Ten Hag, De Jong, the player’s agents, there was absolutely zero.”
