Manchester United won’t be signing FC Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong or Real Madrid playmaker Federico Valverde in January, according to transfer expert and Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano.
The Red Devils are thought to be in the market to sign a new central midfielder in the upcoming transfer window after Ralf Rangnick identified the position as an area of weakness in the new interim manager’s team.
Manchester United have struggled to find a consistent level in the 2021-22 Premier League season, with Fred and Scott McTominay receiving a lot of criticism for their performances.
Paul Pogba’s future at Old Trafford also continues to be a source of debate considering that the World Cup winner has little over six months left to run on his current deal.
The 28-year-old is currently out injured and hasn’t featured for the Red Devils in the Premier League since his sending off in Manchester United’s 5-0 defeat by Liverpool FC on 24 October.
Manchester United have been linked with a potential bid to sign De Jong as the Netherlands international continues to struggle at the Spanish giants.
The Old Trafford outfit were also linked with a move to buy De Jong before the 24-year-old completed a €75m switch to FC Barcelona from Ajax in July 2019.
But transfer insider Romano has poured cold water on talk of Manchester United signing De Jong from FC Barcelona or Valverde from Real Madrid in the near future.
“I wanted to clarify that Valverde and Frenkie de Jong are not players Man United are working to sign in January or next summer,” Romano told the Here We Go podcast.
“Xavi was very clear – De Jong is not leaving FC Barcelona. They consider him a key player. It’s the same point for Valverde. It’s impossible Real Madrid will accept anything for Valverde.”
De Jong has scored 10 goals in 110 games in all competitions over the past three seasons at the Camp Nou.
Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell recently urged Manchester United to take advantage of FC Barcelona’s financial situation and swoop for De Jong.
“If a club is struggling then there will be other teams looking to take advantage and get your best players,” Campbell told Football Insider.
“Man United have virtually unlimited resources. Frenkie De Jong is a top player. I’ve watched him for a couple of seasons and he would be excellent at Old Trafford.
“I think Barca are going to find it extremely hard to hold on to him.”
De Jong has only won the Copa del Rey since moving to FC Barcelona two and a half years ago.