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Barcelona tell Frenkie de Jong to leave and join Manchester United
22/07/15
10:39
sokapro-Barcelona tell Frenkie de Jong to leave and join Manchester United

The Catalan giants have told Netherlands international Frenkie de Jong that they want him to leave the club and join English side Manchester United.

Reports indicate that the Catalan hierarchy have informed Frenkie de Jong that they need to sell him off to Manchester United in order to balance their excessive wage bill, which has led to complications in registering their new signings like Raphinha. While Barcelona believe that de Jong is a talented player, they are trying to convince him that a move to Old Trafford will be the best decision that he can make for his career at the moment. They are trying to show him that the decision they are making is an economic decision rather than a sporting decision. At present, it is unclear whether De Jong will travel with the Barcelona squad on their pre-season tour in the US.

Manchester United have agreed to pay Barcelona €75 million (£63 million, $75 million) for the Netherlands international and they could also pay add-ons worth € 10 million (£8.47million, $ 10 million). The Catalan giants feel that United's offer is a great amount and they would rather have a quick sale in order to cash in as they are aware the offer will not be there forever. The situation is, however, complicated as Barcelona owes De Jong in excess of €17 million in deferred salary payments. This debt is stalling the deal from seeing the light of day. United sent a delegation to Barcelona to hold face-to-face talks over the signing of De Jong which led to a breakthrough in regards to the transfer fee. In 2019 Barcelona signed De Jong from Ajax for £86 million and he has made almost 100 league appearances for the Catalan giants

Barcelona's financial situation is, however, forcing them to sell one of their best talents as they have debts of £1 billion adding to strict controls on recruitment and expenditure. De Jong was one of the shining stars in Ajax under Ten Hag and it is expected that he will replicate the same under the same manager at United. He was part of the Ajax squad that reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals during the 2018-19 campaign. They had eliminated the likes of Juventus and Real Madrid in order to reach that stage. Tyrell Malacia is so far the only signing of Manchester United during this transfer season and they are also close to sealing a deal with Ajax for Argentine Lisandro Martinez. It is also expected that this Frenkie De Jong deal will be successful as Manchester United have put much energy and focus into bringing him to Old Trafford
(Photo: Getty Images)