Manchester United are very close to signing Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona and reports in Spain suggest that the deal should be sealed this week.
As per today’s version of AS (news image provided below), Barca have told the Dutch midfielder that his services are no longer required at the club and the decision has tremendously hurt the player.
Transfer: Man Utd have made contact to sign £95million striker – Report
The Spanish news source claim that De Jong is consoled by the fact that Man United, despite not being in the Champions League, is a giant side and coached by none other than his mentor, Erik ten Hag.
It is stated that the Netherlands international currently earns around 11 million euros per season and wants to earn more than £182,000 a week at Old Trafford.
The wages will not be a problem for the Red Devils as per Sport, who claim that Man United are willing to pay a salary that will be more than what he is earning in Spain.
To replace the former Ajax star, Barcelona have already reached an agreement to sign Carlos Soler from Valencia.
In Holland, De Jong won the Dutch Cup and the Eredivisie titles under the guidance of Ten Hag. On the other hand, since moving to the Nou Camp in 2019, the midfielder has only won a single Copa Del Rey title.
His form has not been brilliant mainly because Busquets has played in his preferred position and the captain remains irreplaceable at Barca.
Man United need a statement deal after letting record signing, Paul Pogba, leave for free and the arrival of a quality player like De Jong would lift the team. Let’s not get too excited for now and wait for an official confirmation.
Man united’s greatest problem has always been the Glazers. Plus our recruitment personnel sucks. There have always been a yawning gap in the DM before sir Alex retired but we were busy signing Galacticus and pretending that it will go away. Sir Alex had to bring back Paul scoles to temporarily fill that void before retiring. No body have actually come close to cementing this gapping hole all these years. When Leicester city won the league one would have thought the Man utd would have signed Ngolo Kante whom Sir Alex rightly identified as their engine room but we were too blind to see that. Anda Harerra was the only one that did a fair job on that position but again he was allowed to go. It takes a coach like Ten Hag to identify and tackle this problem headlong. The fear which is becoming palpable with all Man Utd fan is that the Glazers are not going to back Ten Hag in the transfer market. I have said that even Gardiolla or klop will struggle in man united. I don’t care the kind of player united buys if we don’t put professionals who understand football in our recruitment department we will be looking behind the likes of Man city, Liverpool, Chelsea and soon Tottenham and Chelsea for a long time.