For the past two days, the Catalan pair of Mundo Deportivo and Sport have not had a report on Manchester United interest in Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong.
However, the Red Devils wanting the Netherlands international this summer is discussed in his home country.
On Thursday, De Telegraaf’s Marcel van der Kraan, stated United are likely to conclude a deal for the midfielder this summer. He was also optimistic of the club completing deals for Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia and Ajax’s Lisandro Martínez.
Earlier this week, Erik ten Hag took his first training session as the Premier League side’s new manager. René Meulensteen, Raimond van der Gouw and Jaap Stam appeared as guests on Voetbal International to discuss Ten Hag’s start in Manchester.
One of the topics covered was De Jong and the ex-United assistant manager gave his take on Ten Hag wanting the Netherlands international.
“In Erik’s way of thinking it is a logical first purchase. Frenkie is of course a great footballer and I would really like to see him at United,” Meulensteen told VI.
“He is technically very strong. That should also be a lot better at United. If you just look at the statistics: that the opponent regularly has more possession would have been unthinkable with us. Frenkie can help them to be much more dominant.”
Meulensteen also discussed the potential issues De Jong could face when adapting to the needs of the English football.
“But you do get Frenkie out of another league. In Spain, the ball doesn’t go through the air, everything goes over the ground. Just like in the Netherlands, but at a faster pace,” he said.
“The Premier League is a different story. In the Premier League you can’t just play your own game every time, because opponents are also constantly strengthening themselves with very good players.”
