Your latest Manchester United news and evening headlines on Sunday, July 24.
Laporta makes De Jong transfer admission
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted the Catalans need to clarify the situation with Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong.
Erik ten Hag made De Jong his priority target for this summer transfer window and United agreed a fee with Barcelona to sign De Jong two weeks ago. But the deal has been stalled by the wage deferral De Jong agreed to as part of a contract renewal in 2020.
Barcelona have endured financial difficulties for some time and that was exacerbated by Covid-19. De Jong agreed to a pay cut to help the club out during the pandemic on the proviso he would then earn the money back over the next couple of seasons, which means if he were to leave this summer, he would still in theory be owed the money.
READ MORE: Moments missed from draw against Villa
United aiming to pin Ronaldo down for talks
United will seek clarification from Cristiano Ronaldo on when he intends to return for pre-season training.
In his continued absence, United ended their pre-season schedule in Thailand and Australia with a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday night and flew back to Manchester straight after the game.
Ten Hag has given the players Monday off, but they are due to report for training on Tuesday before friendly games against Atletico Madrid in Oslo on Saturday and the home meeting with Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
Ronaldo was expected to be at Carrington July 4 but remained in Portugal - citing a family issue - and then went on to miss games in Bangkok, Melbourne and Perth on the summer roadshow.
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