Besides the obvious longing for Frenkie de Jong since the last two months, Manchester United are pressing with active interest in Barcelona right-back Sergino Dest according to several sources. The Dutch full-back has fallen down the pecking order for Xavi and despite his desire to stay in Barcelona, could be sold if a right offer arrives.
There were plenty of raised eyebrows when Barcelona announced their extended squad to face Rayo Vallecano in the LaLiga season opener at the Camp Nou this weekend. Dest, their right-back, hadn’t been included despite the fact that he wasn’t suffering from any injury.
It was automatically viewed as a message from head coach Xavi Hernandez who doesn’t particularly have the player in his plans for the upcoming season. The former World Cup-winning midfielder decided to start with Ronald Araujo, who is a centre-back by trade, at the right-back slot instead and Sergi Roberto came on to fill the void in the second half.
According to Spanish outlet SPORT, Manchester United are interested in Dest and monitoring his proceedings as manager Erik ten Hag wants a new right-back before the transfer window comes to an end. Barcelona, on their end, are also said to be looking for the profile along with the signings of Marcos Alonso and Bernardo Silva to conclude business in the summer transfer window.
As a result, reports suggest that Manchester United are ready to offer Diogo Dalot in exchange for Dest’s services. While Dalot is a name liked by the club, according to reliable transfer journalist Gerard Romero, there have been no contacts from Barcelona, who are still drawing up options at this stage.
Barcelona also, reportedly, want 20 million euros from the sale of Dest and are not interested in any swap deals. Having signed him from Ajax in 2020, Dest hasn’t been fully convincing so far and that is one of the reasons why the Catalan club were interested in bringing Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta to the club before he extended his contract with the Blues. Dest has also previously played 38 matches under ten Hag at Ajax.
Manchester United’s own options at right-back aren’t inspiring choices for the manager either. Aaron Wan-Bissaka hasn’t maintained the same consistency since signing from Crystal Palace three years ago, while Dalot, who pipped the former to the starting slot, doesn’t particularly inspire confidence either.
