Manchester United do have alternatives lined up in case they miss out on Frenkie de Jong, but the Barcelona midfielder is their number one priority.
The De Jong to Manchester United saga has been ongoing for some time now. Erik ten Hag worked with De Jong during his time at Ajax, and improving United’s midfield could be a priority this summer.
Not only is a midfielder priority for Ten Hag, but De Jong specifically, according to Fabrizio Romano, speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside in his column on Substack.
However, De Jong is still trying to stay at Barcelona, and with Manchester United yet to convince the Dutch international to move to England, they do have two alternatives lined up.
Ruben Neves and Youri Tielemans are still on Manchester United’s list if they fail to sign De Jong, but they could miss out on the Premier League duo as they continue to wait for De Jong to make a decision.
United may have to eventually end their pursuit of De Jong if he continues to insist on staying at Barcelona, or they risk missing out on further targets, who could move to another club during the transfer window.