Manchester United are ‘prostituting’ themselves for Frenkie de Jong, says club legend

Former Manchester United midfielder Rio Ferdinand has taken a subtle jibe at Manchester United’s pursuit of Frenkie de Jong, saying that the Red Devils are prostituting themselves in the entire negotiation.

Manchester United have spent most of the transfer window trying to convince Frenkie de Jong to join them at Old Trafford. However, despite having his former manager, Erik ten Hag, in charge, they have failed miserably so far.

This is mostly because first, they are no longer in the UEFA Champions League and second, the midfielder believes the project is not really tempting. Hence, if reports are to be believed, he is now preferring Chelsea over the Red Devils.

Speaking about Manchester United’s chase, Ferdinand reflected upon how frustrating the entire negotiation has been from the outside.

“We’re not in the market for the top players. We’re going out and we’re waiting for three-and-a-half months to sign Frenkie de Jong,” said the former defender on his FIVE YouTube channel 

“With all due respect, he’s a great player, but we’re almost prostituting ourselves out for this player for three months of the transfer window with our cap in hand begging, ‘Please come to us’,” he added.

“I think Ten Hag is sitting there thinking; “This has been a complete shambles for me because I came in expecting to really revamp this first team with about five or six players that I believe could change our fortunes or give us a better opportunity of being a better team.”

“And he’s struggling to get over the line and his main target [De Jong], they’ve not got anywhere near it. They’ve walked around behind him begging him, ‘Please turn round and notice us’, and he’s looking around and saying, ‘Not for me.'”

“And we’re still there, “Please give us one chance”. How are we putting ourselves in that position? How are we allowing ourselves to be put in a position like that?” he questioned.

Speaking further, he added while ten Hag is still following the updates, the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and even Alex Ferguson, for that matter, would have left the chase a long ago.

“Do you think Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola or Six Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho would be following around a player like this? They wouldn’t be doing that.

“You don’t want to come to us? Right, go away, go about your business, good luck to you, and move onto the next target. It frustrates the life out of me,” he expressed.