The uncertainty surrounding Frenkie de Jong's potential move to Manchester United is about to enter into the final month of the transfer window - and the saga has now taken a fresh twist.
Erik ten Hag has made De Jong his top transfer target this summer and is keen to convince the player to join United despite not being in the Champions League. The Red Devils could only finish sixth with their lowest ever Premier League points tally which earned them a place in the Europa League this season.
The new United boss worked with De Jong during his time at Ajax - as the pair were part of the side that reached the Champions League semi-finals and inevitably lost against Tottenham Hotspur. De Jong was sold to Barcelona in 2019 but Ten Hag is now keen to reunite with his former midfielder.
However, The Athletic have been told De Jong did not have a particularly special relationship with Ten Hag when at Ajax. This is despite the amount of success they had together and Ten Hag managed to develop De Jong into one of the most promising midfielders in world football amid a slight decline in recent years. He made 89 first-team appearances for Ajax before leaving to join Barca.
While United have brought in Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez this summer, progress on De Jong has been fraught with difficulties. On Sunday, Laporta reaffirmed his stance that De Jong is not for sale and the club had not even accepted an offer.
"Frenkie de Jong is our player, we really like him," he said. "We received some offers for Frenkie but we didn't accept as of now, as we want to talk with him and know exactly what he wants. We need to clarify some aspects of his situation."
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The 25-year-old has been linked with a move to the Red Devils since the beginning of the summer but it does not look like a deal is going to be struck anytime soon. This is because De Jong also wants to stay at Barcelona.
According to The Independent, De Jong is standing his ground, partly because he is owed €17million (£14.4m) in deferred wages due to an agreement struck during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. He has been placed in a difficult situation despite the Catalan giants spending big already in the market.
Barcelona have signed Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski for a combined total of £103.3m but, despite huge amounts of debt, remain publicly insistent that De Jong is not for sale. Recent reports from Spain say Barca manager Xavi has personally reached out to the 25-year-old in an effort to get him to stay on reduced terms.
De Jong was named as a substitute in their 1-0 pre-season win over Real Madrid and came on as a second-half substitute. But Xavi decided to use him as a centre-back, causing some concern amongst the Barca fans.
