The one that got away! City's secret De Jong move collapsed over one detail
Manchester City's summer midfield revolution had a hidden chapter, and it has just been revealed. Before spending nearly €400 million on replacements, the champions seriously pursued a very different solution.
Details: According to Catalunya Ràdio, relayed by SPORT, Manchester City genuinely explored signing Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona this summer once they learned Rodri wanted to leave the Etihad. City contacted the Catalan club, and the response surprised them: Barcelona's sporting department, led by Deco, was open to negotiations and made it clear the Dutchman was not considered untouchable. City proceeded to request medical reports on De Jong's right knee, which he damaged at the 2026 World Cup while playing through the pain for the Netherlands, and after reviewing the information, the Premier League side elected not to pursue the signing. City instead pivoted to younger profiles, spending €145 million on Enzo Fernández, €135 million on Elliot Anderson and €95 million on Ayyoub Bouaddi.
The episode sheds fascinating light on both clubs. For Barcelona, openness to selling their captain's heir apparent underscores the financial and sporting recalibration under Deco, even as Hansi Flick publicly insists his relationship with De Jong remains excellent. The Dutchman tore his medial collateral ligament at the World Cup, rejected surgery in favour of conservative treatment, and has yet to play this season, though he has returned to partial training with a first appearance now targeted for November 1 against Alavés. For City, the retreat explains the scattergun scale of their eventual response: losing Rodri to Barcelona for around €50 million was compounded by watching their preferred alternative slip away on medical grounds, leaving them to rebuild an entire engine room at record prices. De Jong, meanwhile, remains under contract until 2029 and faces the fight of his career for minutes against Rodri, Pedri, Gavi and the emerging Marc Bernal.
It's worth noting the cruel symmetry of the saga: it was De Jong's injury that pushed Barcelona to sign Rodri from City in the first place, the same injury that then scared City off bringing De Jong to Manchester. The Dutchman has always maintained he is happy in Barcelona and has no intention of leaving, but his role under Flick is now genuinely uncertain in a midfield that has produced a perfect seven wins from seven this season, scoring 31 goals. If November brings the comeback, De Jong will be playing to prove the medical reports wrong, with the club that once wanted him watching from across the continent.
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Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
