If Manchester United are to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona, they are going to have to make an offer.
For the past few weeks, there have been a lot of stories pushed that the Red Devils were intent on buying the midfielder from the Spanish side, as this was the desire of Erik ten Hag.
However, there appeared to be some push back from the player, meaning work was needed to convince the player that swapping a broke Barcelona for a broken Manchester United was a good idea.
In the meantime, the Catalans, according to Sport, are ‘open to negotiations’, but it’s made clear that Manchester United ‘have not made any formal move’.
Ten Hag is reportedly trying to ‘convince the Dutch midfielder to join his project’, which appears to be what is delaying any bid.
While ‘it is true that there have been contacts, calls and efforts’ between the two clubs, nothing has happened beyond that and ‘to date nothing has materialised’.
This means Barcelona are ‘waiting for Manchester United to send a formal offer to start a negotiation with all the cards on the table’.
Down his end, meanwhile, Ten Hag is trying to show De Jong that not playing in the Champions League isn’t the end of the world, despite the lack of elite European football being ‘something that is holding back the player’s availability’ to a transfer.
As for the fee, Barcelona ‘would only be willing to sell if an offer of around €80m arrives’.
