On Thursday, Mundo Deportivo stated Barcelona have officially informed Frenkie de Jong he has to go to Manchester United after the two clubs agreed his transfer.
This claim is further backed up by Sport on Friday, who then provide more information on this case.
The midfielder is determined not to leave the Camp Nou despite Manchester United’s firm desire to sign him this summer.
Barca signed Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen on free transfers, and gave a new deal to Sergi Roberto. These players cannot be registered as the club currently exceed their salary budget by €30-40m.
The La Liga side need De Jong to accept a move to Manchester United as soon as possible and this is an absolute necessity to help them in ‘fair play’, to register the aforementioned trio. Therefore, Barca have given the player an ‘ultimatum’ to leave the club.
For this, Barca must see the former Ajax man accept the offer ‘quickly’ because United’s ‘proposal expires’. Sport don’t mention the timeframe for when United’s offer will be valid.
Xavi and the Spanish giants’ sporting director, Mateu Alemany, held talks with De Jong and urged him to leave. If he accepts, it will help Barca solve a problem, but they will then have to raise an additional €20-25m to register Ousmane Dembélé and Raphinha.
The Blaugrana will make a trip to the United States on Saturday and are studying the possibility of leaving De Jong out of the travelling squad so that he can resolve his future.
That’s according to another report from Sport, who add Barca do not rule out ‘pressuring’ 
the Dutchman to go to Manchester United. As it stands, it’s not clear whether Xavi and the club will take De Jong to America.
