Manchester United reportedly believe that only their own 'indecisiveness' scuppered a blockbuster deal for Frenkie de Jong in the summer - and that the Dutchman would have joined them, despite claims to the contrary.
The Barcelona playmaker was Erik ten Hag's primary transfer target after the Dutchman had seen the 25-year-old flourish first-hand during his reign at Ajax. After weeks of drawn-out negotiations, United and Barcelona had thrashed out a deal worth an initial £56million for the midfielder, but the switch failed to materialise.
De Jong did not appear to be completely sold on the idea of moving to the Premier League, particularly as United were unable to offer Champions League football, and stated publicly on more than one occasion that he was happy to remain at the Nou Camp.
But that didn't deter Manchester United or Ten Hag from persevering with their bid to lure the Dutchman away - and a new report has outlined that the club still believe that a deal was there to be done.
According to Dutch outlet AD, the club feel as though they missed out on De Jong because they took far too long to meet the Spanish giant's £73m asking price.
It is claimed that the Old Trafford hierarchy know of Barcelona's demands in early June, however, they did not relent and meet those demands until De Jong returned from his holiday a month later. By that point, it is believed that the midfield maestro was 'determined' to snub a move away from the La Liga outfit, who were open to offloading one of their top earners.
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De Jong has featured in all six of Barcelona's games so far this term, including Saturday's thumping 4-0 win away at Cadiz, where the midfielder opened his account for the season after bagging the opening goal of the match.
It remains to be seen if United will rekindle their interest in De Jong in future transfer windows. After Ten Hag finally conceded defeat in his bid to prise the playmaker away from the Nou Camp, he turned his attention to Barcelona's biggest domestic rivals, Real Madrid, in a bid to solve United's midfield issues.
United struck a deal that could eventually reach £70m to bring Los Blancos enforcer Casemiro to Old Trafford, while Christian Eriksen has also dazzled in a deeper role than the spot he has previously occupied during stints at Tottenham and Brentford, meaning United are now reasonably well-stocked in the middle of the park.
De Jong, meanwhile, still has three-and-a-half years left to run on his current deal in Spain - although The Athletic revealed last month that Barcelona have informed the midfielder that they could be forced to take legal action as the deal he was handed by the previous regime in October 2020 'involved criminality'.
