De Jong is facing rumors of a 40% salary reduction and accepting to play as a centre-back if he stays at Barcelona. However, there are also news about his connections with Chelsea. However, there are no rumors or news of Man United's reputation, De Jong does not want to go to Old Trafford this summer.
Spanish media has also been rumored to have a preference for Chelsea if he leaves Barca. The price M.U agreed with Barca for the De Jong case was 75 million Euros (with 10 million Euros in add-ons). After a summer of spending less than... as well as last year, with almost all the presents when the new owner Boehly took office, The Blues are looking for an excuse to spend money.
Returning to Ten Hag and M.U, the "Red Devils" have been rumored to be in urgent need of a central midfielder to improve their defense. After stars like Tielemans (Le Leicester) or Neves (Wolves), it was Milikovic-Savic (Lazio)'s turn to be brought to the media. The 27-year-old midfielder of the Italian team has been rumored to be at M.U since last summer to gradually replace Pogba, but the relationship between him and the Old Trafford team has not yet come. The price of Milinkovic-Savic is estimated at about 65 million Euros.
Since joining Barcelona in 2019, if counting the past 3 years, many of Milinkovic-Savic's indicators in Serie A are much better than De Jong's in La Liga, which are quite important indicators for M.U at the moment.
The reason why the comparison between De Jong and Milinkovic-Savic is considered quite commensurate is because the number of appearances in the past 3 years of these two stars are similar (140 and 131). The Lazio star has scored 27 goals, compared to 13 by De Jong. Milinkovic-Savic also had more shots and assisted De Jong (27 compared to 15).
In terms of ability to create chances, Milinkovic-Savic is also better than De Jong (171 than 149 times). Milinkovic-Savic's ability to penetrate the penalty area is also better than De Jong's, although both of them are only central midfielders, identified as having difficulty attacking continuously. The reason for this factor is that from Inzaghi or now Sarri, Lazio captains have allowed Milinkovic-Savic to participate more in attacking and scoring. They have always had a man behind Milinkovic-Savic to support, but that does not mean that the Serbian midfielder has avoided the responsibility of defending from afar.
Another indicator also shows that Milinkovic-Savic could be better than De Jong. In the past 3 seasons, the Lazio star's passes in the box have reached 462, compared to only 236 by De Jong. However, due to his tight ball control style of play, it is understandable that De Jong has fewer passes than Milinkovic-Savic. Therefore, De Jong's pass accuracy rate is much higher (91.77% compared to 79.06%).
De Jong seems to be quite low in the Barca squad compared to the prominence of Milinkovic-Savic in the Lazio shirt. Barca's competition in La Liga is easier than Lazio's in Serie A if they both aim to secure a ticket to the Champions League. De Jong himself at Barca is not the brightest star in midfield, unlike Milinkovic-Savic at Lazio.
With Ten Hag's playing style, he needs a central midfielder who knows how to attack, but when he loses the ball or is counterattacked, that player must have enough physical strength and sophistication to immediately retreat to defend. Although the main purpose is still to support defense and create connections between lines, Ten Hag's demand does not stop at that level.
British media are drawing the prospect of De Jong going to Chelsea and Milinkovic-Savic going to Man United this summer. Thus, the Premier League will have 2 more central midfielders worth watching next season.
