Law. at 7:56 p.m.
IT IS
The English club contacts the Blaugrana club while waiting to find an agreement
Barca, as happened with United, want a minimum of 80 million euros
The final movement begins with Frenkie de Jong. Chelsea have already started negotiating directly with Barca in an attempt to reach an agreement to sign the Dutchman and they are confident they can achieve the goal.
The English club asked about the midfielder in early July and over the weekend they announced they would opt for DeJong and now he has made an official decision to start talks which should also have the footballer’s final agreement. Barça’s idea is to give way to Frankie de Jong for a minimum of €80m guaranteed, a figure Manchester United have already made clear they would be willing to pay.
Chelsea’s attack comes as the London club begin to push the market. The London club delivered a real boost by edging out Manchester City in signing Cucurella and are also very close to finalizing the signing of Fofana, a young centre-back from Leicester. These are two operations of great economic magnitude in the English domestic market, but they clearly show that the financial power of Chelsea is in the hands of its new owner Tood Boehly. It will have to be seen if the offer for De Jong reaches the amounts Barca have planned to release the Dutchman in a deal that needs to ramp up as he entered the final month of the market.
Chelsea have tried trying to close down their defense first and then aim for strategic goals that allow them to surge forward. Signing a striker is also on his roadmap but De Jong has become a priority target. Thomas Tuchel directly supports his arrival and his incorporation would also be a blow for Manchester United, who remained in the race despite the impossibility of reaching an agreement with the footballer. The irruption of Chelsea itself could cause a change of mind in the environment of the player and the footballer himself to study an exit from Barca, which they considered difficult until now.
Chelsea’s idea is to take advantage of Barca’s complicity with the departures of Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso, even if the Blaugrana want the operations to be carried out separately. From there, the English club must at least match United’s proposal, which exceeded 80 million euros between fixed and variable to reach an economic agreement. And then seek an agreement with the player, who is in a complicated salary situation because Barça has postponed part of his salary. It’s a very complicated deal, but if De Jong also does his part, it’s not impossible.
Frenkie de Jong has always expressed his desire to continue at Camp Nou. He has suffered a lot in recent seasons and wanted to have fun on the pitch with the new sporting project that Barca are building. Despite everything, the footballer is clear that the club have taken steps to give him an outlet and relations have become a bit strained, making his continuity more complicated. The Blaugrana club could very well use his departure to face the latter part of the deal with more money and, in case nothing can be agreed, the footballer should make an effort and lower his salary.
Negotiations have already started and Chelsea are in a bit of a rush. The Prime Minister starts this weekend and Tuchel would like to close the heavyweights of his new sports project. It cost the English club dearly to sign and lost several early options, but it’s clear that with De Jong they could win the battle. They offer him a winning project, in London, in which he would play Champions. United paid more and didn’t throw in the towel, although Chelsea could end up snapping up the Dutchman and helping Barca sign late-summer big dream Portuguese Bernardo Silva.