Barcelona’s De Jong tempted to play alongside Casemiro at Man Utd

Frenkie de Jong may have found his footing at Barcelona as of late, but his long-term future at Camp Nou remains far from certain.

The Dutch midfielder was one of the best players at Santiago Bernabéu in Barca’s 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. With regular minutes under his belt this season, De Jong is finally starting to show why he’s regarded as one of Europe’s most complete midfielders.

And thanks to the same ability, he remains ever-present on the radar of Erik ten Hag’s Man Utd.

Despite failing to lure De Jong to Old Trafford last summer, the Premier League giants are expected to return to Catalunya at the end of the season to secure the 25-year-old’s services. The Netherlands international’s impressive performance across the two legs against the Red Devils in the Europa League will have only justified Ten Hag’s interest in his former Ajax star.

Frenkie de Jong tempted to play alongside Casemiro at Man Utd

As per talkSPORT, De Jong, following Barcelona’s underwhelming showings in the Champions League and Europa League, is open to joining United.

It is further added that he’s tempted by the prospect of playing alongside former Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro.

The Brazilian has been incredible for United all season and his experience proved crucial in knocking out Barcelona from Europe. But it’s largely viewed that United can get even more out of Casemiro by pairing him with a press-resistant midfielder like De Jong at the base of midfield instead of Fred or Christian Eriksen.

Barcelona’s precarious financial state means regardless of his newly established importance in Xavi’s squad, De Jong could be offloaded in the summer.

On Thursday, La Liga chief executive Javier Tebas declared that Barcelona would have to make cuts of around £178 million before looking for new signings.