Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has confirmed that defender Denzel Dumfries
is set to join Real Madrid but says he would have preferred to have see him join Barcelona.Dumfries has been linked with Barcelona in the past but is now set to join Los Blancos from Inter, with Koeman confirming the Dutchman has had a medical with Madrid.
“I gave him permission for that,” he told reporters after the Netherlands’ friendly defeat to Algeria on Wednesday.
“I don’t know if the transfer is completely finalized
now. But if anyone deserves this, it is him. Although I would have preferred to see him go to FC Barcelona.”
The Netherlands lost 1-0 in their World Cup warm-up match in a game which Frenkie de Jong started. The Barca midfielder said he wasn’t too upset with the result.
“We are disappointed with the result; this is not what you hope for. But it’s not like we are down in the dumps,” he said.
“In the second half, we became a bit sloppier on the ball and conceded the goal ourselves. I feel good and fit now and am looking forward to the World Cup. We can’t change this result anymore. We have to look ahead again.”
