Manchester United’s prologued saga to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona has taken quite a few twists turns over the weeks. United are seemingly confident to land the 25-year-old midfielder this summer but any fun in the saga has been drained with the twists and turns.
On Saturday, Barcelona president Joan Laporta stating that the Catalan club wanted De Jong to remain at the club but there were also suggestions that the club were just posturing. It has come to the stage where this is getting boring and the longer it goes on, the more time is being wasted.
United have spent the entire summer chasing the 25-year-old and the delay is starting to show repercussions with Cristiano Ronaldo now wanting a move away from the club, partly down to his frustrations of the way United are falling into an even bigger abyss.
If Laporta was being honest that Barcelona would like to keep De Jong, it would not be easy because of the financial situation at he club. It has been reported by Marca that if the Dutch midfielder stays this summer, he will have to take a big pay cut.
It would seem that De Jong would be due an eye-watering £34.5 million in various payments next year, which has been stipulated in his contract. It would seem that Barcelona have dug a hole so deep that finding a way out is even more problematic than to keep digging.
It was stated as the rumours first developed regarding United’s interest in De Jong that he would have liked to remain at Barcelona with many reports linking to that but there has been suggestion that he has come to the conclusion that leaving would be the best option.
Erik ten Hag’s role at United is an important factor in luring De Jong to United this summer. Making him the ‘conductor of the orchestra’ so to speak would give him a big role at the club and build a team around him. United should be dominating in the midfield, which is why United have failed.
With rumours suggesting that a fee has been agreed between United and Barcelona, which came before what Laporta said, it would suggest a lot of wasted time between the two clubs and therefore give the impression that he was just posturing to get what he wanted.
The fact of the matter here is that United need to find ground to agree with what Barcelona want, which is what they should have done a matter of weeks ago. That could well happen this week but it could easily drag on if neither club take the lead an ensure the deal is concluded.
Written by John Walker
