Manchester United Treble winner Jaap Stam believes they shouldn't drop their pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

De Jong reiterated last week that it was always his desire to stay at Barcelona. Stam believes that it would have been a disappointment for manager Erik ten Hag not to sign his former player, who he was desperate to reunite with in Manchester.

"It probably was a big disappointment because Frenkie is a world-class player," Stam told the Manchester Evening News.

"He[Ten Hag] needs to fill in that position with different players. Up until now, he's doing it well, [Scott] McTominay is growing, [Christian] Eriksen is doing really well and Bruno [Fernandes] is playing better. Casemiro has come in, so he can make that choice.

"That's really important for the coach. If you want to play a certain way, you have to have players in there who can adapt to the system. It was a disappointment, but they need to move on. You need to work, you can't dwell on what happened.

"It depends on the players [January move for De Jong] he's got there now and how they're performing. They're learning and making progress with how he wants them to play. I think this player, Frenkie, with the ability that he has, is always interesting."