Chelsea close to reaching Frenkie de Jong agreement with Barcelona | OneFootball

Chelsea are nearing an agreement with Barcelona for the transfer of Frenkie de Jong, per a recent report from The Times.

However, the Blues are still awaiting the midfielder’s approval over a potential move to west London.

De Jong’s future has been of the major headlines of the current transfer window with Manchester United, under the new management of Erik ten Hag, firmly interested in landing the ex-Ajax man.

However, the Red Devils’ pursuit of de Jong now looks to be all but over despite agreeing a deal worth £70m million to acquire the Dutchman, who remains uninterested in moving to Old Trafford.

This has now left Chelsea in pole position to snap up De Jong should he choose to depart Camp Nou this summer amid the current rift between him and the Barcelona hierarchy.

De Jong has refused to take a pay cut which would aid Barcelona in the registration of their new signings and the Catalans have now informed the 25-year-old that they have found ‘clear indications of criminality‘ in his current deal which he signed during the Josep Bartomeu era.

Barcelona also owe De Jong around £14 million in deferred payments from the last two seasons, making his evident reluctance to walk away from the club entirely understandable.

The ongoing saga between De Jong and Barcelona is set to drag on for a while but Chelsea are now doing everything they can to secure a deal should the opportunity arise.

Blues’ owner Todd Boehly is reportedly prepared to pay De Jong what he is currently being owed in a bid to increase his side’s chances of luring the midfielder to Stamford Bridge.

With the transfer window set to shut in just over three weeks, Chelsea are looking to save the best for last as the Premier League giants also target swoops for Wesley Fofana and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang alongside De Jong.