Barcelona director Jordi Cruyff has stressed that they will not be selling Frenkie de Jong, who has attracted interest from Manchester United.
With Ajax boss Erik ten Hag set to make the switch to Old Trafford in the summer, reports have suggested that the Dutchman could look to reunite with De Jong as he prepares to shake up United's midfield.
Manager Xavi has already done his best to quash the rumours, and now Cruyff has spoken out in an attempt to end the speculation.
"We are not going to sell Frenkie de Jong, he is a highly valued player within the club," Cruyff said after Sunday's defeat to Rayo Vallecano.
That pledge of support came soon after De Jong appeared to lose his cool after being withdrawn by Xavi. Subbed off at the 60-minute mark, the Dutchman launched his shinpads to the ground in anger and stormed straight down the tunnel, only to return to the bench late on.
Just what De Jong's frustrations were directed towards is unclear. There's no denying that he struggled during his time on the pitch, but he was also a target of regular fouls by the Rayo squad and was often ignored by the referee, and some have claimed that De Jong's anger was more because of that than Xavi's decision to withdraw him.
Regardless, it was the latest in a long line of underwhelming performances from 24-year-old De Jong, but Barcelona continue to insist that they will not be selling the Dutchman, who has been linked with both United and Bayern Munich in recent months.
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De Jong's father has backed him to continue at Barcelona and recently confessed to Algemeen Dagblad that the midfielder wouldn't even be interested in moving to England because of the miserable weather.
"It’s often bad weather there. Of course it’s about football, but it does matter,” he said of a move to the Premier League.
"Of course I know that Barcelona needs money and a great offer for Frenkie could help, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon. Although, the five top European clubs have all called.”
Source : 90min