BLUE CAMP Chelsea transfer targets De Jong and Aubameyang to hold crunch talks with Barcelona as double exit nears

De Jong’s agents jetted into Barcelona on Wednesday to talk to the club, with both parties in a financial stand-off. Chelsea is now the favorite to beat Manchester United to Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong for around £67.7million. Auba, who only signed from Arsenal in January, has also instructed his advisers to speak to the LaLiga giants to decide on his next move. Chelsea is now in a race with Manchester United for Dutch midfielder De Jong, who was verbally abused by several Barca fans as he arrived at the club’s HQ for training. Reports from Spain claimed the supporters insulted him with the taunt, “Lower your salary, b****!” Barcelona needs to sell more players to balance the books and allow their summer signings to be registered ahead of their first game against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday. Chelsea is willing to match United’s agreed £72m bid for De Jong, while their interest in Aubameyang is a shock. The Gabon striker, who has three years left on his contract, had a string of disciplinary issues with Arsenal but Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel worked with him at Dortmund. The Blues are already confident of signing Leicester’s Wesley Fofana and have been quoted £12m for Inter Milan’s teenage star Cesare Casadei — even though he has yet to play for the first team. Chelsea has already spent a massive £178m this summer under new owner Todd Boehly. The club’s American backers have invested in Raheem Sterling from Man City for £50m, Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for £34m, and Marc Cucurella from Brighton for £62m. The club has also recruited Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa for £20m and Gabriel Slonina from Chicago Fire for £12m. Meanwhile, Timo Werner claims he “had a good time” at Chelsea despite failing to hit his best form. The German striker, 26, yesterday completed his £20m return to RB Leipzig — two years after he arrived for £48m. Manchester United agreed to a £72million fee to sign De Jong last month but he is owed £17m in deferred wages and will not agree to leave until he is paid. Barcelona would prefer him to stay but only if he agrees to take a significant pay cut and accept a £6m settlement for his deferred wages. The club even alleged there had been criminality in the terms agreed in the contract made by the previous board. That sparked a furious response from the Dutch players’ union, who said De Jong might be the target of extortion.