The Frenkie de Jong transfer stories are already turning into a Frenkie de Jong saga! And it seems this is happening to Manchester United every single summer. Before, this was the case with Jadon Sancho and other players United wanted to sign, now the Barcelona midfielder is the subject of a transfer story which is lasting well over a month.
The latest news from Spain are not great for United’s hopes of signing the Dutch midfielder. De Jong has been named in Barcelona’s pre-season squad, which is set to travel to the United States, where the Catalan giants will play four games.
But the recent news have been a mixed bag for the Red Devils. Man United reportedly found a deal with Barcelona which could see them sign the player, but then, that was never going to become too big of an obstacle. Barcelona are in a dire financial situation and after commiting to signing Leeds’ Raphinha and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski for a total of around 100 million pounds just in terms of transfer fees, it was obvious they would do everything they can to sell De Jong.
But the player himself is a problem. He does not really want to leave Barcelona and a move to Manchester is not such an interesting prospect for him. He is reportedly disappointed with how Barca have treated him recently, while other stories also emerged. Apparently, Barcelona owe De Jong outstanding sums of money in unpaid wages from the previous months and now, by trying to sell him, those debts towards the player became an important story.
They would also need to pay him the wages they owe him, so despite Barcelona wanting to sell him, they also do not want to push the deal too hard, as the player has those unpaid wages as a potential tool to use against them. But what all of these stories mean for Manchester United? And with this saga dragging on past the halfway point of July, should the club pull the plug and decide to walk away from this potential transfer?
It seems that United are getting themselves to the point where they might have to choose to not pursue the signature of De Jong. Yes, Ten Hag is eager to bring him in and he is a player that could certainly shine in his specific system of play. He has lots of talents and with a little bit of confidence instilled in him, De Jong could do a lot in the Premier League. But should United continue working on these prolonged deals? It seems that every summer United are spending a lot of time on trying to get the deals done and this summer, it seems they are doing it for a player which is not so eager to make the move. What seems like the biggest problem here is that United do not have the backup option in case De Jong stays at Barcelona. And that could be something which could set back Ten Hag’s plans.
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