Manchester United have set their sights on Frenkie de Jong and Jude Bellingham for next summer’s transfer window.
That is according to ESPN, who say that United’s long-standing interest in both players shows no signs of going away.
United chased de Jong for much of the summer, only for him to remain at Barcelona and Erik ten Hag to sign Casemiro instead.
But United seem to think that the Dutchman could be convinced to leave next summer and Ten Hag is already weighing up a swoop for his ‘unbelievable‘ former Ajax player.
United eye Bellingham and de Jong once more
Some United fans reading that report will be thinking ‘here we go again’.
United seemed to think they could convince de Jong to move last summer despite his stance never changing and ultimately they didn’t get their man.
The club wasted an awful lot of time on the protracted transfer chase when they should have walked away long before they did.
Now, are we going to do that all over again next summer? Ten Hag may hope to have improved things behind the scenes by then, but it could be yet another drawn-out saga.
The report offers a reminder that United tried to sign Bellingham when he left Birmingham but he opted for Borussia Dortmund instead.
At the very minimum, United would need to be in the Champions League next year to have any chance of convincing Bellingham to come.
At the moment, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City look ahead in the chase which could dominate next summer’s transfer window.
It remains to be seen whether United would get any of these high-profile midfield targets – with Declan Rice another name always linked to Old Trafford – or whether it would be wiser going slightly off the beaten track and maybe getting a bargain.
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