Chelsea suddenly ‘willing to pay’ £85m to beat Man Utd to incredible signing of Barcelona superstar

Chelsea have quickly reacted to the news that Frenkie de Jong might be available for a transfer away from Barcelona by preparing to compete for his signature, according to reports.

On Friday, it has emerged that De Jong is ‘willing to leave’ Barcelona after previously being insistent on staying at the club when he was originally wanted by Premier League admirers such as Manchester United.

Naturally, with Erik ten Hag still in charge, Man Utd have immediately been mentioned again as potential bidders for the Netherlands international.

However, Diario Sport claims Man Utd are just one of three clubs considering a move for De Jong – and one of the others is Chelsea.

In fact, Chelsea are ‘willing to pay’ up to €100m (£85m) for De Jong as they continue to spend aggressively under the ownership of Todd Boehly.

Chelsea are assembling one of the most expensive midfields in world football after breaking the British transfer record on Enzo Fernandez and then Moises Caicedo last year, not to mention a significant investment in Romeo Lavia as well.

Amazingly, they might not be finished there after spotting the opportunity to add De Jong to their squad too.

However, it remains to be seen who is the frontrunner between them, Man Utd and fellow suitors Paris Saint-Germain.

De Jong’s wages could be a problem

After all, a complication for all of them will be De Jong’s wage demands, which have also become an obstacle for Barcelona in any contract extension negotiations.

If De Jong pushes for a move, though, it may indicate he is willing to make compromises – and in the event of him doing so, Barcelona would not completely rule out selling him.

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Interestingly, Sport claims De Jong’s representatives already know about the interest from Chelsea, Man Utd and PSG.

Some patience will be required before his future is determined and he will conclude the campaign – in which he has so far played 22 times and scored once – with Barcelona.

His contract in Catalonia is valid until 2026 and he has made 205 appearances across his Barcelona career, returning 16 goals and 21 assists.

Before that, he developed under Ten Hag at Ajax. Now, the question is where he will spend the rest of his prime years as his 27th birthday approaches in May.

His potential departure from Barcelona would be big news for the reigning LaLiga champions, who are also due to lose head coach Xavi at the end of the campaign.

Who takes Xavi’s place remains to be seen, as does whether or not they will be able to rely on De Jong as part of their project.

After all, Barcelona want De Jong to extend his contract until 2029 to spread out deferred wages they still owe him, but there has been little progress on that front.

If they need to sell a star name for Financial Fair Play reasons, then the Dutchman might become a likely casualty again.

And whereas he resisted their attempts to offload him in 2022, this time he might not be so stubborn, which could play into the hands of clubs like Chelsea, Man Utd or PSG.

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