Manchester United are reportedly closer to signing Frenkie de Jong this summer. Reports have emerged that the Netherlands international has given the ‘green light’ for the move, leaving Barcelona after three seasons.
The reports come from Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail who stated on Friday that the 25-year-old was now ‘fully open to joining’ United. However, the fee for the player still needs to be agreed by the two clubs with Barcelona seeking a £65 million fee, according to the reports.
Over the past few weeks it had been suggested that De Jong was Erik ten Hag’s key target this summer for him to stage a revolution at the Old Trafford club, following the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjær in November 2021 and Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.
It has been stated in Mokbel’s report that De Jong wants to join United this summer with the club accelerating their attempts to sign the 25-year-old. It is also stated that United have already made an offer for the Dutchman, however, there is not full agreement between the two clubs.
That would seem to be a minor event though considering the parameters of this deal – the fact that Barcelona have a bad financial situation, the player now being happy to leave the Catalan club and join United and the two teams not all that far apart in reading an amicable deal.
Once the transfer has been completed, it would see a reunion between De Jong and Ten Hag from their time at Ajax with the Dutch manager taking over at the club in December 2017, although the midfielder left the club for Barcelona in the summer of 2019.
This could also see a reunion between De Jong and Donny van de Beek, who played in the same team at Ajax but with United’s lack of an actual defensive midfielder, it might not be enough for United to find the glory days once again – but it is a step in the right direction.
his will be a positive for United, who have lacked quality in the midfield ranks for a number of years and despite some flair signings in Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and more recently, Van de Beek, the fact an actual experienced defensive midfielder has not been signed is alarming.
Perhaps Ten Hag is confident that he can get the work rate of the players to be much more productive, or even coach a player into the right kind of role at the club, or even concentrating on developing a youth talent, such as James Garner or Charlie Savage. I am sure we will see soon.
Written by John Walker
