Man Utd table £64m bid for Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong

Manchester United have submitted an improved offer worth £64m [€75m] for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong as Erik ten Hag pushes to get his man, according to Sport.

Ten Hag is expected to be busy this summer revamping the squad he inherited from Ralf Rangnick and widespread reports suggest that de Jong has been earmarked as his prime transfer target.

The pair worked together during their time at Ajax and ten Hag is seemingly desperate to build his new-look midfield around the Dutch international.

Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard have all left Manchester United this summer so they need to overhaul their options in the middle of the park and de Jong is seen as an important part of the rebuild.

United have been struggling to get a deal agreed with Barca following weeks of talks. The Express claims that Man Utd’s opening offer of £51m plus £8.5m in add-ons was rejected by Barca, with the Catalans demanding closer to £73m in full.

Renowned transfer guru Fabrizio Romano offered an update on the situation last night after claiming that Manchester United remained locked in talks with Barcelona officials on Tuesday. He says no agreement has been reached and Barca insist they won’t sell for anything less than £73m [€86m].

Manchester United and Barcelona have been in direct contact today for Frenkie de Jong. Still no agreement on the fee, as Barça told Man Utd they won’t sell FdJ for less than €86m. 🚨🇳🇱 #MUFC

Barcelona want full fee guaranteed, also because of La Liga rules to reinvest money. pic.twitter.com/n6WBFk5Uxy

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 21, 2022

New offer

However, Sport claims that Man Utd have now submitted an improved bid worth £64m [€75m], which should test Barcelona’s resolve as manager Xavi wants to offload de Jong in order to raise funds to buy Bernardo Silva.

The reported £64m offer still falls short of Barca’s £73m asking price, but it’s still a sizeable fee which the Catalans could use to launch their move for Bernardo – who’s being linked with a move away from Man City.

We should hear further developments soon as Barca want the situation resolved before the end of the month, but de Jong would be an excellent signing for United if they could get a deal over the line.

The 25-year-old has been one of the best all-round midfielders in Spanish football since joining Barca from Ajax in 2019 and he’d be a major upgrade on the likes of Fred and Scott McTominay at Old Trafford.