Manchester United have made a concession to Barcelona in an attempt to finally get a deal over the line for Frenkie de Jong, but they may have already been beaten to the transfer.
United have spent much of the summer trying to prise De Jong away from Barcelona, with every week bringing a new twist in the tale. They have not given up on landing the midfielder, who played under Erik ten Hag at Ajax, and thought they had made a breakthrough on Monday.
However, Wednesday brought the potentially crushing news that Chelsea have launched their own attempt to sign De Jong. They have made contact with Barca and are now strong contenders for the Dutchman’s signature, with Todd Boehly’s money and Thomas Tuchel’s desperation for reinforcements driving the move.
One of the major things holding up a transfer away from Barcelona for De Jong is the £15million he is owed in deferred wages. The 25-year-old agreed to a temporary wage reduction during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, under the assumption it would be repaid further down the line.
De Jong is understandably reluctant to leave and surrender money owed to him by his current employer. In previous negotiations, United had been unwilling to get involved in something they saw as separate to their transfer interest.
However, the Daily Mail says they are now happy to pay De Jong the lump sum on top of the transfer fee, which is £63m plus £8m in add-ons. That would put the total outlay at around £86m – significantly more than the initial fee of £56.2m, rising to £72m with add-ons, they thought they had agreed last month.
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The problem for United is that this significant softening over their stance may have come too late, with Chelsea also willing to solve De Jong’s deferred wages problem to land him. The Blues have shown recently that they can move quickly once a player is in their sights.
Manchester City had been favourites to sign Brighton ’s Marc Cucurella, but Chelsea quickly intervened to shell out the £52.5m the Seagulls were looking for after City bowed out at their valuation of £40m.
It seems something similar might happen with De Jong. United have been pursuing Ten Hag’s top target for over two months, yet could find themselves gazumped. Chelsea know all about that feeling, having missed out on Raphinha and Jules Kounde to Barcelona this summer.
Although privately Barca are understood to be open to selling De Jong, publicly they remain steadfast in their 'not open for business' stance. "Frenkie de Jong is our player, we really like him,” president Joan Laporta told ESPN recently. “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."
