{
  "id": 2995413,
  "title": "Barcelona midfield star was a real target for Manchester City until his injury – report",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/barcelona-midfield-star-was-a-real-target-for-manchester-city-until",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-24T10:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/barcelona-midfield-star-real-target-101500119.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong was once a prime target for Manchester City, but his injury has derailed any potential transfer plans. According to a recent report, the Spanish club were keen on signing the midfielder during the World Cup, with Enzo Maresca seeing him as a key target. However, De Jong's injury forced Manchester City to reconsider their approach and they instead secured Elliot Anderson for a record fee. Ayyoub Bouaddi was subsequently signed by Manchester City as well. Barcelona's captain, De Jong, is reportedly not interested in leaving the club, stating that his sole desire is to stay in Catalonia. Given the complexity of his injury and the fact that he was pushing himself at the FIFA World Cup, it is highly unlikely that De Jong will leave Barcelona in the near future. The Catalan club is strong in midfield, with players like Pedri, Rodri, Gavi, Dani Olmo, and Fermin Lopez, making De Jong's return to full fitness and reinstatement a challenging task.",
  "summary": "Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong spoke out in a detailed interview this summer to clarify the noise around his situation, especially given all that has been questioned about his commitment to the club.Ha...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "Report: Nottingham Forest favourites to sign Barcelona star",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/report-nottingham-forest-favourites-to-sign-barcelona-star",
        "published": "2026-08-24T06:50:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}