Man Utd submit £68m bid to sign Frenkie de Jong

Manchester United have submitted a formal offer worth £68m [€80m] to sign Frenkie de Jong after Erik ten Hag held personal talks with the Barcelona midfielder, according to Marca.

ten Hag is expected to be busy in the transfer market this summer revamping the squad he’s inherited from Ralf Rangnick and a new central midfielder is reportedly his priority.

Paul Pogba has left Old Trafford after running down his contract while Nemanja Matic is also on the way out when his contract expires this month so Manchester United need to bring in at least one top class midfielder this summer.

de Jong has emerged as a prime target amid uncertainty surrounding his future at the Nou Camp. Barcelona are still struggling financially and will need to offload some high earners this summer to balance the books.

de Jong is one of the most sellable assets in the squad and it looks like Man Utd are ready to take advantage of the situation after ten Hag identified the Dutch international as a key acquisition.

According to Marca, ten Hag has already spoken directly with de Jong to convince him to move to Old Trafford after making it clear to the 25-year-old he would build his new-look team around him next season.

ten Hag and de Jong know each other well from their days together at Ajax, and Marca says the new Manchester United manager has promised the midfielder to play a style of football that suits his game.

The Spanish outlet claims that Man Utd have now submitted a formal opening offer to Barcelona worth around £51m [€60m] up front plus another £17m [€20m] in add ons, meaning the entire deal could reach £68m.

Barca are now giving serious consideration to the proposal as they know the sale of de Jong would free-up significant funds that they could reinvest into rebuilding Xavi’s squad this summer.

We’ll have to wait and see how things progress over the coming weeks but de Jong would be a superb addition to the United squad if they could get a deal agreed for his signature.

The Dutchman is an excellent all-round midfield player who’d be a big upgrade on the likes of Fred and Scott McTominay, and he would be an exciting first signing of the ten Hag era.