Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Frenkie de Jong, Jonathan Tah and Robin Le Normand

Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.

The summer of Frenkie de Jong and Barcelona plans

At the beginning of the transfer market, it is true that Bayern Munich had Frenkie de Jong on their shortlist but the first contacts which did occur never progressed into a real negotiation between the two parties. It is also evident that the relapse of his ankle injury conditioned the rest of his summer in terms any potential moves away from Barcelona too, but now the Dutchman’s goal is to play again and perform at his best for Barcelona.

I think the Catalan club wants to try to renew his contract, which expires in 2026, and will try to lower his salary. We will see how the negotiations go for him. This summer, Manchester United were never a real option for de Jong, as they had set their sights on Manuel Ugarte.

Atletico Madrid tried to bring in star signing in January

Atletico Madrid finally spent big on their defence five years after investing in Mario Hermoso this summer, putting over €30m on the table for Robin Le Normand from Real Sociedad. By the time the deal got over the line, Le Normand was a European champion as a starter for Spain, but he had long-since known of Atletico Madrid’s interest.

The story is that Atletico had already tried to sign him in January without success because Real Sociedad did not want to sell him during the season, and they also requested that his release clause be paid at that point. In March contacts were resumed – Le Normand was always the number one option for Diego Simeone and the Atletico board. The operation was already agreed verbally before the Euros.

Barcelona in the race for Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah

This week Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah gave an interview to Suddeutsche Zeitung, in which he confirmed that he would not be renewing his contract with die Werkself, after months of links with Bayern Munich. Fabrizio Romano has also reported that an agreement on personal terms with the Bavarian side was reached months ago.

That said, I don’t think Tah’s future is already decided by any means. As he himself admitted, he will be free to decide where to go. Barcelona are in the race, as are other clubs. Barcelona already initiated contacts for Tah at the end of this transfer market, and in the coming weeks, will try to see if it is possible for them sign him on a free transfer within their salary limit restrictions.

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