Manchester United Are “Pressing” to Sign Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong

Manchester United are ready and waiting to take advantage of Frenkie de Jong’s situation at Barcelona. The club looks almost certain to sell as they look to free up some funds because of some financial restraints; Barca are looking for a deal in the region of €70-€80m.

Barca’s financial status doesn’t give them the luxury of options during the summer transfer window. The only option they are forced to go with is to sell a couple of high-profile players and try to recuperate the €1.2billion debt Forbes reports they are in.

"In case you hadn’t heard by now, FC Barcelona’s star midfielder Frenkie de Jong is said to be on the verge of leaving the club this summer.“It is a purely economic issue,” Romero stated, in reference to the Catalans’ debts around the $1.5 billion mark. “Barca needs to sell a player who has not been top at the club,” it was said of De Jong’s performances since joining from Ajax in 2019.Romero revealed that the operation “would be [completed] for between €70 ($73.6mn) and €80mn ($84.1mn)”, though other reports which emerged on Wednesday say that the Blaugrana will not accept less than €100mn ($104mn) for the just turned 25-year-old they paid €75mn ($78mn) for.“We are on May 11 and the situation can still change,” Romero admitted. “[But] at the club they are clear that if he continues for one more season and the player does not explode [into good form], he will lose value and Barca will lose money.” (Via: forbes.com)"

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Barcelona and many other clubs across Europe have struggled financially. The club has been trying to recover for a while and selling their stars has certainly not started with de Jong.

Lionel Messi’s “sad” departure from Spain to Paris was where it all began for Barcelona. He was not the first and surely will not be the last as they continue to make up the financial losses with player sales and by other means.

De Jong’s time in La Liga has not been one to write home about but one that can keep improving with time. During his time at the Catalan club, he has featured in 140 games, scoring 13 goals and assisting another 15.

Frenkie de Jong has been reluctant to join Manchester United

Since the de Jong revelation in the Catalan state and the arrival of Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford, Man United have been all over the situation, trying to sign the Dutchman as soon as they can get a breakthrough with Barca.

While they are trying to lure him to England, the player has made it clear he would rather like to play Champions League football and has been pulling away from a potential United switch.

This hasn’t deterred United from pursuing him and they believe their new boss will play a crucial role in Frenkie de Jong making the move to Manchester. The Premier League side is even willing to go as far as offering the player an “irrefutable offer” to convince him to join.

They are quite confident they will land the young Dutchman with them assured he will sign before the end of this week. Manchester United also are far from done as they look to strengthen in more than one area.

Work has been going on in the background with the defence a vital area of the pitch to improve before the start of next season. Another one of ten Hag’s former Ajax boys have been linked with a switch to Old Trafford; they have identified Jurrien Timber as their priority centre-back signing.