Manchester United have been given encouragement that Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is open to joining them this summer amid a transfer impasse.
Despite agreeing a £56.2million upfront fee with Barca and new United boss Erik ten Hag holding a phone call with his former player to convince him of a move to Old Trafford, talks have come to a standstill.
United retain optimism of a deal with De Jong and his agent said to be furious with the Catalan club over their handling of his future. Barca president Joan Laporta has insisted publicly that the midfielder is not for sale but privately they are open to his departure and continue to engineer one.
Despite reports that De Jong has a list of 10 reasons for not joining United and former Barca boss Ronald Koeman insisting that De Jong has no intention of leaving Barca, the Red Devils remain confident that a deal can come to fruition this summer and they will not walk away.
As outlined by a report in the Telegraph, the holdup in the deal revolves around outstanding monies that are owed to De Jong by Barca. It is believed that the player is owed £17million by the Catalan club – an issue that needs to be resolved.
De Jong is one of the highest earners at Barcelona and he his also owed a series of payments that through amortizations and other clauses that are part of his deal. The problem for the club is that they are currently unable to process such payments, complicating the player’s future.
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Barca have been aware that De Jong’s personal preference has always been to stay at the club as he is settled in the city with his family and has enjoyed a prominent role at the club, who have remunerated him handsomely with a key sporting role.
That is why the role of Ten Hag is key for United, as he has attempted to convince De Jong that he would be the 'conductor of the orchestra' and would be an undisputed starter for his team – a similar role to the one he enjoyed so much in Amsterdam. The role of the new Old Trafford coach is crucial in the transfer becoming a reality.
For United’s part, they are adamant that they would not have progressed a deal to this stage with the amount of time and resources invested if they were not optimistic that the player would be open to the transfer once a deal is struck with Barca.
