Erik ten Hag wants to reunite with Frenkie de Jong at Manchester United - a simple goal on paper but one that is proving far more difficult than it might have been had United not slumped to a dismal sixth-place finish last season.
With United not in the Champions League and Barcelona being De Jong's dream club, United are finding it hard to complete the deal despite the Catalan side's willingness to sell due to their financial issues. And there might be another spanner ready to be thrown into the works.
Xavi likes De Jong, but if he is forced to let him leave, he'll no doubt want to source a replacement. Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen are waiting to be registered but reports in Spain suggest that Xavi wants Manchester City's Bernardo Silva as a direct replacement for De Jong.
