Chelsea signing De Jong would be 'psychological blow' for United
- Published
If Chelsea were to sign Frenkie de Jong, it would be a "psychological blow" to Manchester United, according to journalist Luke Edwards.
After long being linked with a move to United, Chelsea have now reportedly opened talks with Barcelona for the Netherlands midfielder - and the 25-year-old would apparently prefer a move to Stamford Bridge.
"It’s our first tug of war. Every transfer window needs a tug of war and we’ve got one between two of the heavyweights," Edwards told the Transfer Gossip Daily podcast.
"The problem is he doesn’t seem to want to come to Manchester United. He was on the verge of joining in May and now hasn’t. That seems to have let in Chelsea. Do they really need him? I’m not so sure, it’s a slightly strange one from that respect.
"Chelsea have got a lot of money to burn. They want to sign some big names and this would be a psychological blow against Manchester United.
"He was their top target, Barcelona get stuck and then Chelsea come and swoop in and snatch him. It seems like a battle of the egos, quite frankly."
Elsewhere, Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill is set to joinBrighton, with Marc Cucurella on the verge of moving the other way.
Edwards said: "Poor Colwill is a pawn in another game at the moment.
"It’s getting to that point of the transfer window where there are all these tangled webs. Clubs are looking to strengthen, but they are also trying to hold on to players or offload players to and it’s all interwoven.
"It’s very complex and what tends to happen is you push the first domino down and everything else collapses - but we are still waiting for the first domino to fall."
