Frenkie de Jong will only agree to leave this summer to join – but the Blues are reluctant to match ’s offer for the midfielder, according to reports.
De Jong is currently with Barcelona’s first-team squad on their pre-season tour of America and held talks with the club’s hierarchy earlier this week.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta and Nou Camp manager Xavi hoped the situation would be resolved after the talks but De Jong’s future is still up in the air.
De Jong has made 140 appearances for Barca since joining from in 2019 and is keen to remain at his dream club and play a starring role in their rebuild under Xavi.
But Barcelona, facing immense financial difficulties, view De Jong as an ideal player to sell as his departure could raise around 80m euros.
The situation is complicated further by the fact Barcelona .
Spanish outlet say De Jong is ‘confused’ and ‘hurt’ by the developments, especially as Barcelona continue to spend big on summer signings.
It is also claimed that if De Jong is forced out of Barcelona, he is only interested in joining Chelsea as he still has reservations about a move to Manchester United.
De Jong played under new United boss Erik ten Hag at Ajax and this was one of the reasons United were said to be leading the race to secure his signature.
But reports in Spain say De Jong still has doubts about the Red Devils and would push for a move to Stamford Bridge if he was exiled by Barcelona.
Chelsea have shown interest in signing De Jong but are currently unwilling to meet Barcelona’s valuation of 80m euros.
That is despite Blues boss and warning Todd Boehly the team might not be ready for their Premier League opener next weekend.
‘My analysing of the season does not change because of this game,’ Tuchel said after Chelsea’s 4-0 defeat to Arsenal. ‘Unfortunately, it proved my point.
‘The last week proves my point. I would absolutely prefer not to be right. I did everything to prove myself wrong but at the moment I feel that I was right.
‘I look at the last season and parts of the game where we struggled, parts of the season where we struggled, and then we got sanctioned and players left us and some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is.
‘So we had an urgent appeal for quality players, a huge amount of quality players. We got two quality players but we are not competitive like this. Unfortunately you could see it today.’
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