Law. at 5:18 p.m.
IT IS
The English club are not giving up and are preparing a final assault for the midfielder
And they would also assume what the Barça club owes them in deferred wages
Manchester United are ready to make one last push to try and sign Frenkie De Jong. Virtually desperate as they know the Dutch midfielder isn’t keen on changing Barcelona for Manchester or playing the Europa League instead of the Champions League. But they continue to insist because Erik Ten Hag asks them to do everything to get him signed. He never hid that it was his priority objective. And for this reason, English emissaries could be seen with De Jong’s agents now that the player has already returned from the US tour.
The problem is not with Barca, with whom they have reached an agreement for a transfer of 75 million euros fixed plus another 10 in variables. Here, the job is to convince the player. And United believe they can do that with a definitive offer. The English club are keen to make the Dutch midfielder the club’s highest paid player by matching his current salary of £450,000 a week. At the exchange rate, they would be around 535,793 euros, according to the ‘Daily Mail’. And very importantly, they are also ready to pay the £17m (€20m) Barcelona owe De Jong in deferred wages. A few weeks ago they categorically refused to assume these debts.
If De Jong decides not to leave Barça, he already knows that he will have to take a significant drop in his record. Barca club officials have already informed him. Xavi, after playing against New York Red Bull, left the player’s continuity up in the air. “I don’t know if he’s going to stay. There’s still time and a lot of things can still happen. For now, he’s part of the team, like everyone else,” he said.