The future of Frenkie de Jong at Barcelona remains complex but these are key days in Manchester United ’s hopes to finally sign the midfielder.
United have an initial transfer fee agreed with Barcelona with the value of £56.2million to sign the midfielder this summer. A recent report has outlined how De Jong has a list of 10 reasons for not joining United and opting to stay at Barca beyond this summer.
While Barca are adapting a public stance that the player is not for sale, privately they are open to his departure with Xavi already making his feelings clear on a deal. However, his predecessor Ronald Koeman has claimed that De Jong has no intention of leaving Barca.
Reports had claimed the player has already cleared out his locker at Barca with a move to Old Trafford appearing to be edging closer. New United boss Erik ten Hag coached De Jong at Ajax and held a phone call to convince the player that he should join his project at Old Trafford.
De Jong, 25, was informed that he would be the 'conductor of the orchestra' and would be an undisputed starter under Ten Hag – a similar role to the one he enjoyed so much in Amsterdam.
Have Your Say! Would De Jong be a transformative signing for Man Utd? Tell us what you think here.
Now, the player is returning to training at Barcelona following his holidays and this is the decisive period in his future. As reported by Marca, the player and his agent Ali Dursun are said to be furious with how Barca have conducted themselves over his future.
The reality of the Blaugrana’s financial situation is that they need to drastically reduce De Jong’s wage bill; they are set to pay him a whopping £17.7million (€21m) this season, and that figure will rise to £23.7million (€28m) for the following campaign. The Catalan giants simply cannot afford that outgoing.
That means that Barca will ask De Jong to accept a significant pay cut, in addition to having to forego various other outstanding payments that the Dutchman is owed. This is based upon De Jong’s wage at the club alongside a series of payments that are owed to the player through amortisations and other clauses that are part of his deal.
The De Jong transfer saga has dragged out into months although this is now the week which could prove decisive in the player making a decision on his future with Barca pushing for a final decision of either a pay cut or a sale.
