Tottenham offer for superstar midfielder shot down by Romano who leaves Man Utd hanging too

Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has seemingly ended any reported Tottenham hopes of a deal for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, along with those of Manchester United.

The Netherlands international moved to the Camp Nou from Ajax back in 2019 and has gone on to score 16 goals in 206 appearances for the Calatan giants.

However, there has been significant talk that De Jong could be one of three players, alongside  Ronald Araujo and Raphinha, who could be offloaded to generate funds.

Financial concerns continue to play a part in Barcelona’s thinking ahead of the summer transfer window, which led to talk of Spurs joining United in the race for the 26-year-old.

Indeed, according to reports on Wednesday, Ange Postecoglou’s side have made a €60million (£51m) ‘offer’ to sign the midfielder.

Tottenham have also shown an interest in winger Raphinha, who is the player likeliest to be sacrificed by Barca this summer.

Reports suggest they could be ‘willing to pay up to €70m’ to sign the former Leeds United winger, who has also been linked with Arsenal and Chelsea.

However, any talk of De Jong heading to the white half of north London has been completely quashed by Romano.

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Barcelona still keen on extending De Jong contract

The Italian journalist insists Barcelona have zero interest in selling and are still hoping to extend the player’s contract.

Writing for CaughtOffside, Romano said: “There have been lots of rumours about Frenkie de Jong lately guys, but I can tell you that Barcelona will try to extend his contract in the next months.

“They still believe in Frenkie and there’s no news on the player side so far regarding wanting to leave the club.”

However, Romano does add that Barca’s precarious financial position could see things change quickly.

“Of course, if both sides can’t agree on a new deal, the situation in the summer could change,” he added.

“I’m not hearing anything on decisions made or negotiations ongoing, and I’m not aware of any Tottenham bids so far, despite the stories.”

So no Tottenham bids, but United still remain in the mix for a player Erik ten Hag would love to have running his midfield next season.

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Barcelona reportedly accepted an offer in the region of £80m from United in the summer of 2022, but De Jong did not want to make the move at that time.

Ten Hag instead brought in Casemiro from Real Madrid, but rumours linking United with De Jong have never gone away – especially given that the Brazilian could be offloaded come the end of the season.

Much now depends on whether De Jong accepts the offer of a new deal or drags his heels, which would almost certainly lead to a sale.

Tottenham and United are back in action this weekend when they take on Wolves and Luton Town respectively in the Premier League.