Manchester United will ‘put pressure’ on Frenkie de Jong to try to change his mind over joining them, once he returns to Europe after a pre-season tour in the United States.
That’s according to Sport, who state the Red Devils are ‘preparing a final offer’ for the 25-year-old which they consider to be ‘irrefutable’.
Manchester United are aware Barcelona are very favourable to selling the midfielder. There will be na ew summit, likely after the Catalan club returns from the US, to convince the player to agree to reunite with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
The Netherlands international has been clear he wants to stay and has no intention to take a pay cut.
Barca have already made it clear to the Dutchman and his environment, that he needs to leave, and they could do it ‘more expeditiously’ again in the coming weeks.
The Blaugrana are ‘waiting for the latest move’ from Manchester United to make it clear to the former Ajax man he must leave his current employer. Having already tried everything to convince De Jong, Ten Hag’s side will try again by offering him a ‘millionaire contract’.
In other words, Sport explain the Premier League side are willing to match the salary De Jong is expected to earn at Barca for the next two seasons. This would let him recover the deferred wages the Spanish giants currently owe him.
That sounds unlikely.
United chiefs Richard Arnold and John Murtough already made a trip to Barcelona to sort out a deal for the player. The newspaper states the English club’s leaders are willing to travel again to have ‘one last meeting and settle the matter’.
De Jong, for his part, is very reluctant to move to Manchester United, because they cannot offer him Champions League football next season. He would favour a move to other clubs, but they are not ready to pay what United are willing to offer.
Meanwhile, Xavi Hernández has refused to confirm the Dutchman will be at Barca beyond the summer transfer window.
“I don’t know if he’s going to stay. There’s still time and a lot of things can still happen. At the moment he’s part of the team, like everyone else,” Xavi said, as quoted by Sport.
“The fact that he played as a centre-back in the other games was not a sign that he was leaving. I don’t need to send signals on the pitch, I can speak directly with my players.”
