Manchester United suffers a blow in the pursuit of Frankie De Jong as Barcelona raises his asking price, Pep Guardiola to blame
The fact that the Dutchman regards De Jong as the cornerstone of his United ambition is no longer a well guarded secret, but Barcelona appears to be acting dirty during discussions.
The trade appeared to be on track when United agreed to pay £56 million for the midfielder, with the cost possibly rising to £73 million, but Barcelona President Joan Laporta announced last week that the club did not want to sell.
De Jong is said to have two options: join United or stay at Barcelona on a lower salary.
The player has identified playing for La Blaugrana as his “dream,” thus a more lucrative pay package may be required to push him towards the Premier League.
It appeared that an initial £56 million plus add-ons would be enough, but speaking on his Twitch show Jijantes FC, Spanish journalist Gerard Romero claims that the Catalan club is asking for closer to £64 million up front with another £10 million in add-ons, according topublished by football365.
According to the same report, Barcelona wants to sign Bernardo Silva from Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola has stated that the Portuguese midfielder is worth £70 million, so the money must come from someplace.
Manchester United is that somewhere. De Jong himself appears to have come around to the idea of the transfer and is in ‘daily’ touch with Erik Ten Hag.
ALSO READ:
- Declan Rice has already played his last game for club as exit confirmed by West Ham owners
- Man Utd flop makes XI Saudi team of the season as Cristiano Ronaldo brutally snubbed
- David Beckham’s Inter Miami eye move for Man Utd flop to join Lionel Messi
- Mateo Kovacic confirms he is set to leave Chelsea this summer
- Eden Hazard ‘plans to retire after ripping up his Real Madrid contract early
- New Nike Tottenham Hotspur 2023/24 home kit revealed with Harry Kane summer transfer hint
Manchester United suffers a blow in the pursuit of Frankie De Jong as Barcelona raises his asking price, Pep Guardiola to blame
