Manchester United could be willing to pay a lot of money to sign Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong this summer, according to Mundo Deportivo (page 2).
The Red Devils were hot on the trail of the Dutchman two years ago. They reached an agreement with the Blaugrana to sign him for €85 million, but the midfielder refused to agree personal terms.
This has not ended the speculation linking him with United, and Mundo Deportivo today claim that De Jong could head for the exit door in the next transfer window.
The 26-year-old has not responded to a new contract offer for the last three months. If there is no resolution, Barcelona are likely to cash in on him this summer.
De Jong will enter the last two years of his contract in July. It is claimed that Barcelona don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to secure a big fee if he does not renew.
United are reportedly one of the clubs that could be willing to pay ‘a lot of money’ for De Jong. Chelsea are also mentioned as potential suitors alongside Manchester City.
Barcelona will demand at least €100m this summer with Chelsea having set the benchmark with the signings of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez for nine-figure sums.
United unlikely to return for De Jong after Sir Jim Ratcliffe deal
The Red Devils were willing to pay €75m up front in 2022 for De Jong with a further €10m in add-ons.
They were also prepared to make him their highest earner at the time. In our view, a repeat is unlikely to happen after the recent minority takeover from Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The British billionaire will take control of the footballing operations at the club and one of his prime focus is reportedly on lowering the wage bill by offloading high earners.
Ratcliffe is open to parting ways with Casemiro while Raphael Varane could also head for the exit door when his contract expires at the end of the current league season.
With this in mind, we simply don’t see how De Jong will reunite with manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag felt that De Jong was the perfect fit for his midfield with his strong distribution and ball control, but his current weekly wages would be a huge stumbling block.
He is already on €476,000-a-week at Barcelona and may demand over €500,000 weekly to join the club. This would break the club’s wage structure which Ratcliffe wants to avoid.
United continue to be mentioned as De Jong’s admirers, but the boat may have already sailed.