Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is in constant dialogue with Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag ahead of a possible summer move, The Mirror report.
The Red Devils recently agreed a deal worth €75 million (£64m) with Barcelona for De Jong, but the 25-year-old is yet to agree personal terms with the Premier League club.
It has been suggested that he wants to stay at Barcelona, but The Mirror bring a different outlook to the story by revealing that the player is willing to move to Old Trafford.
De Jong has been in ‘constant dialogue’ with Ten Hag, but his public stance remains to continue with Barcelona until they clear his outstanding deferred wages of around £17.1m.
Man Utd had recently tried to negotiate a lesser transfer fee to pay his wages, but the option was not feasible as it would be against UEFA and FIFA’s Code of Practice.
Hence, the Red Devils need to wait for Barcelona to settle him. Ten Hag seems prepared to stay patient for that to happen rather than urging the hierarchy to look for alternatives.
Our view:
De Jong has been Ten Hag’s priority midfield target since his appointment as United’s manager. It is not surprising to see, given his excellent attributes from the centre of the park.
The Netherlands international has superb awareness and ball control from midfield. He is also efficient with his dribbling and has the knack of picking out quality passes in the final third.
He would provide a solid upgrade on Scott McTominay and Fred, who have been the starting duo in midfield during United’s pre-season friendlies against Liverpool and Melbourne Victory.
As things stand, De Jong has yet to given the green light for the transfer, but we anticipate progress in the coming weeks as Barcelona need to lower their wage bill to register new signings.
They have already announced deals for Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie and Raphinha while Robert Lewandowski is due to join from Bayern Munich in the next 24 or 48 hours.
LaLiga are still to give permission to register any of the recent signings for the 2022/23 season. Barcelona may have to part ways with at least one big-name player over the coming weeks.
De Jong, who earns around £320,000-a-week, seems the most likely to make way. Barcelona could negotiate a timescale for the repayment of his salary such that he can join United.
