On Saturday afternoon, Catalan newspaper Sport reported Manchester United and Barcelona had advanced with their discussions over Frenkie de Jong.
The Premier League club were said to have made an offer which would see Barca get €80m, and that meant the two clubs were close to an agreement, with the situation described as being ‘very, very advanced’.
Over the weekend, multiple English reports then backed that stance up, and Sport cover the situation again in their Monday edition.
After patting themselves on the back for breaking the update, they say that once the two clubs have finalised their deal, both sides are ‘clear’ that De Jong will agree to move to Old Trafford. That’s regardless of whether he was initially reluctant over a move to Manchester United.
Barcelona would like to bring the transfer money in, and also be able to get the Dutchman’s salary off their accounts. Given that he knows the club have more or less put him up for sale, De Jong is also now ‘clear’ that his role at the Camp Nou just wouldn’t be the same if he stayed.Sport report Manchester United and Barcelona want the deal done by June 30th, likely to help the latter’s accounts, which gives the clubs three days to finalise things.
