Erik ten Hag ‘has urged Man United chiefs to stand firm in pursuit of Frenkie de Jong after talks with Barcelona star left him confident that a deal can be done’ – as Red Devils try to seal a £63m move for their manager’s No 1 target
- Erik Ten Hag has spoken with his former star and is confident he wants to join
- De Jong is owed £14.25million by Barca but club can’t register players if they pay
- United boss has instructed his transfer chiefs to be patient in de Jong chase
- Ten Hag has tried convincing de Jong of United’s project to sell him on move
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag expects a reunion with Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong to come to fruition and has instructed his transfer chiefs to stay the course.
The transfer saga has rumbled on for over three months now, but United remain undeterred in their pursuit of the Dutch international.
De Jong is said to be happy at Barcelona, but the Catalan giants have finances to consider and if they wish to appease LaLiga and register a whole host of new signings, the midfielder would be the logical departure.
Erik ten Hag was instrumental in the emergence of Frenkie de Jong during their time at Ajax
Ten Hag is confident of reuniting with his former star man following a ‘private phone call’
A deal that could rise to £72million was tentatively agreed between the two clubs last month. The holdup in the deal is due to an outstanding amount in the region of £17m in back payments owed to De Jong by Barca after deferring payments on his wages during the pandemic.
Despite selling off various TV rights and assets to fund their summer spending spree, Barcelona don’t have the money to pay de Jong back. If they did, they wouldn’t be able to register some of their signings.
According to Diario Sport though, United boss Ten Hag remains calm about the situation and is confident that a deal will happen after privately talking with de Jong.
Quite rightfully, de Jong wants to be paid what he is owed. Barca would like to keep him, but realise that’s an unlikely scenario, so much so that president Joan Laporta has suggested de Jong should take a drastic pay cut if he really wants to stay.
Ten Hag has instructed his team to continue waiting for the situation to resolve itself as Barcelona will have to end up selling.
Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde have all joined Barca this summer, but in order to register new players with La Liga, sales must be made.
Ten Hag has maintained that de Jong is his number one target all summer, but time is ticking
De Jong would be happy to stay at Barcelona, but it seems like the club will be forced to sell
New United boss ten Hag spoke with his former player to convince the 25-year-old that he should join his project at Old Trafford.
De Jong, who has been played at centre-back for much of Barca’s pre-season, will be United’s ‘conductor of the orchestra’ if he joins, and ten Hag hasn’t been shy about admitted needing a specific player for the role.
The Red Devils certainly seem to be putting all their eggs in the de Jong basket with little talk around who might fill the specific job otherwise. Sergei Milinkovic-Savic has been mentioned, but United need to replace Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic.
There’s also the looming worry that someone like Chelsea – who can offer Champions League football – may make a serious bid for de Jong, too.
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