Barcelona sends Frenkie de Jong painful message amid Man United transfer link - Reports

Frenkie de Jong remains linked to a move to Manchester United. Meanwhile, Barcelona has sent him a painful message.

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Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong has been linked to a move to English giants Manchester United from Spanish giants Barcelona for the past month. As of today, no action has materialised yet, while talks continue to progress on him between the two clubs. It has been reported that de Jong is not keen on moving to Old Trafford and is staying at Camp Nou. Also, the Catalans owe him £17 million in arrears, thus evidently delaying his transfer. In the meantime, a new report suggests that Barca has sent a painful message to the Dutchman, which might renew the Red Devils' chances of having him.

According to AS, Barcelona is adamant about selling de Jong, which would bolster its finances amidst its financial struggles. Also, Mundo Deportivo has reported that there would be a meeting with the Dutchman on Monday, where he would be informed about the club's intention to let him leave. While the Catalans' head coach Xavi is exceptionally fond of him, he would be asked to go in the club's best interest.

If such happens to be the case, de Jong will have no choice but to accept the hard fate of moving away from Barcelona. However, the report adds that it could also mean Chelsea stepping up its pursuit of the midfielder, which has recently developed a strong interest in him, besides targetting United's Portuguese sensational striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona is expected to utilise the cash it earns from de Jong's transfer to buy Polish striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich. On the other hand, United is ostensibly also in talks for its next target, French striker Moussa Dembele from Olympique Lyonnais. He will likely cost only £10 million, which should be easy for the Red Devils.