Barcelona are set for more uncertainty in the summer transfer window as they could have to sell players once again in order to fund new signings, while manager Xavi has already announced they he will leave at the end of the season.
And the uncertainty at the Camp Nou has led to reports that the Catalan giants are ready to sell De Jong for the right price with claims the Netherlands international is also open to leaving.
There have been suggestions that those reports are ‘wide of the mark’ but there have been further claims since that Man Utd and Chelsea are both preparing bids for De Jong ahead of the summer window.It is understood that Tottenham have already placed a €60m (£51m) bid for De Jong with rumours that Spurs are ready to pay as much as €70m to land the Dutchman.
And now Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo claims that De Jong ‘would be open to listening to offers’ this summer, although Barcelona are looking to tie him down to a new deal but on reduced wages.
But if that doesn’t happen then they will ‘open the doors’ to his departure with the club demanding €100m for the 26-year-old with Tottenham told to pay €40m (£34m) more for his signature.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has been full of praise for Tottenham’s start to the new season, with just one criticism of new boss Ange Postecoglou so far.It comes as Spurs have looked to reinvent themselves over the past few months, following a disappointing few spells under Nuno Espirito Santo, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Postecoglou is a far cry from his predecessors, looking to pay attacking football where possible.
Despite losing star man Harry Kane and having to rebuild the ranks, the Australian head coach has seemingly won fans over in the early days. Spurs have taken ten points from a possible 12 on offer in the Premier League so far, with the only blemish being an opening day draw with Brentford.Since then, wins over Manchester United, Bournemouth and Burnley have seen them not only win, but doing so in style. The Lilywhites have now scored 11 goals in four league games, unlocking their free flowing style, even if it is far from what the new manager wants as the final product.
“I’ve got a picture in my head of what I want the team to look like and I keep saying that we’re still at the beginning, we’re still building and there’s still a lot to be done,” the coach said following victory over Burnley. “It’s about putting all the pieces together and at the same time not neglecting what’s right in front of you.”
Reflecting on the start made by Spurs, Neville quickly touched on the impact made by the new boss, with just the one drawback from the start made so far. He said on the Gary Neville podcast: “Well I think we said when we went to Tottenham a couple of weeks ago, it was a Saturday night and they were playing Manchester United, that they were gonna have a lot of fun this season with the way in which Postecoglou plays.
“And I think he really fits the way in which Tottenham see the vision of their club and how they see Tottenham playing sort of over the years. Only one small, I say small negative, I think it’s quite a big negative that almost slipped through in midweek because everyone was sort of concentrating on other things, but when they went out of the Carabao Cup that was like a ‘don’t do that, don’t go out the Carabao Cup’.
“I know they’re playing Fulham, but that’s one of the two trophies you can probably win so don’t go out of that because you know if you want to try and win a trophy and turn the sort of fortunes of the club around and bring silverware, then that’s one of the two you really need to pay attention to. So that’s the negative, but in the league they’ve been really good.”