Paris Saint-Germain are not currently pursuing the potential transfer of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, while there’s also nothing to the recent Manchester United links.
That’s according to transfer news expert Ben Jacobs in his latest Daily Briefing column, with the reporter telling CaughtOffside that De Jong currently seems to be settled at the Nou Camp, though his Barca teammate Gavi is on PSG’s radar.
It remains to be seen how realistic such a deal would be, however, as Jacobs says the fact that Gavi has a €1bn release clause is likely to be problematic.
A more realistic option could be Bruno Guimaraes at Newcastle United, according to Jacobs, who says he can leave St James’ Park for around £100m this summer.
De Jong transfer update and PSG’s midfielder targets
Discussing what PSG could do this summer, Jacobs clarified stories about De Jong and other possible alternatives for the Ligue 1 giants in that area of the pitch.
He said: “PSG are also not currently pursuing De Jong either. In fact, it’s another Barcelona player, Gavi, they ideally want. It would be an audacious swoop given Barcelona view Gavi as a future captain and pretty much untouchable. And the French champions clearly have no intent to pay Gavi’s €1bn release clause either.
“Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes is a slightly simpler midfielder to land because he has a £100m+ release clause, and Newcastle may need to sell multiple players if they don’t qualify for European football next season.”
De Jong has been a key player for Barcelona and fans will certainly be hoping he does end up staying for the long-term, as he could majorly strengthen a Champions League rival if he were to make the move to the French capital.
Gavi is another important player they won’t want to lose, though, so they’ll hope PSG can succeed in signing someone like Guimaraes instead.