Manchester United have reportedly not given up in their approach to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona this summer. It was reported last month that both United and Barca had closed a deal worth £72 million to sign the Netherlands international.
However, the saga has taken many twists and turns during the summer which is mainly to do with the £17 million in deferred wages that the Dutchman is owed. It is expected that the saga will take more turns before the closer of the summer transfer window. United do not make anything easy.
Chelsea are said to be interested in signing the midfielder this summer and feel that they are in a much better position to sign the 25-year-old based on their participation in the UEFA Champions League this season, with United in the UEFA Europa League.
Some reports on Thursday suggest that United are ready to give in though, which has been said by The Sun. They are not the most reliable and their stories tend to come from anywhere, especially with the Spanish media being so unreliable.
That said though, it does not look good for United who seem to have wasted all summer on De Jong, signing just Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez so far this summer and so much work needing to be done to strengthen positions and clear some dead wood.
It has been reported by Stretty News that ‘Erik ten Hag was ‘livid’ about the progress Manchester United were making on potential deals a week ago’, which is something that would be expected from any manager seeking to get things done in his debut summer window.
Stretty News have also reported that ‘Frenkie de Jong has not spoken formally to either Manchester United or Chelsea, and he doesn’t plan on doing so until he is paid the €17m Barcelona owe him in deferred wages’. Which is pretty interesting as it throws caution to some rumours out there.
The Mirror has reported that Chelsea are interested in De Jong and teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and could do a swap deal with Barcelona involving Marcos Alonso, who was wanted by the Catalan club this summer. The problem of the deferred wages still remains though.
De Jong has also started to be abused by supposed Barcelona supporters who seem to be angry that the player would like to get what he is due from his contract – seemingly the £17 million owed, which is only right. It almost looks like he is being forced out of the club. Shame on them.
Written by John Walker
