KEY POINTS

  • Barcelona want to sell de Jong because of their financial crisis
  • Man Utd are ready to pay around $85 million for de Jong
  • Barca recently convinced Dembele to stay beyond summer

Manchester United have reportedly sent senior officials to Barcelona to seal the deal for midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

Richard Arnold and John Murtough have traveled to Barcelona to end the deadlock over de Jong’s transfer to Old Trafford, BBC Sport reported. The Dutch midfielder is new head coach Erik ten Hag’s summer transfer priority.

Under normal situation, at least one of the said senior figures would have been in Thailand, where Manchester United have begun their pre-season preparations as they are set to take on Liverpool on Tuesday.

While de Jong’s transfer saga has been underway for a while now, the deal has not collapsed yet but de Jong is yet to give a green signal for a move to Manchester, according to Fabrizio Romano, who has a credible record in the European transfer market.

Manchester United are unable to secure de Jong due to the player’s contractual issue with Barcelona. The problem lies in de Jong’s wages that he did not receive during the COVID-19 pandemic and are supposed to be paid over four years.

The Netherlands national delayed receiving the money only to help the financially troubled Catalan club. Therefore, de Jong is now reluctant to leave the Catalans given what he feels he is owed, the BBC Sport report further claimed.

Frenkie de Jong, Barcelona
Frenkie de Jong of FC Barcelona celebrates scoring his team's opening goal with team mates during the Supercopa de Espana Semi Final match between Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona at Estadio Nuevo Arcangel on January 13, 2021 in Cordoba, Spain. Fran Santiago/Getty Images

It is understood that Barcelona would receive $65 million, plus $20 million add-ons from Manchester United for de Jong, who joined them from Ajax in 2019.

The Camp Nou side could use the funds to secure their summer targets, including Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.

It has been reported that Bayern Munich have increased Lewandowski’s price tag to $70 million after Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) joined Barcelona in the race to sign the Polish striker.

Meanwhile, Barcelona have also convinced forward Ousmane Dembele to stay at Camp Nou ahead of the 2022-23 season.

The Frenchman, who is admired by boss Xavi Hernandez, has agreed to stay despite being offered reduced wages.

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