Manchester United are set to make a breakthrough in their hopes of signing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong this summer.
The two clubs have agreed an initial transfer fee of £56.2million with a total package in the region of £72million. Barca are said to have held a meeting with the midfield maestro informing him of their hope that he departs the Camp Nou this summer.
United CEO Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough jetted to the Catalan capital last month to conclude a transfer but left without a final agreement in place. The Red Devils will not give up on a deal to sign the player despite negotiations now entering their third month. The Red Devils are set to make one final attempt to tempt him into making the switch.
Barca are said to be privately open to De Jong's departure despite their stance of insisting he is not for sale and the understanding from United is that a deal is being held up by outstanding payments owed to the Dutch international.
It is believed that the player is owed £17million by the Catalan club – an issue that needs to be resolved. De Jong is one of the highest earners at Barcelona and he is additionally owed a series of payments through amortizations and other clauses that are part of his deal. The problem for the club is that they are currently unable to process such payments, complicating the player’s future.
As outlined by Diario Sport, the issue of the outstanding payment is now set to be resolved as United will ‘assume the debts’ in their agreement with the player. It is claimed that they had previously refused to commit to such an arrangement.
Have Your Say! Would Man Utd be able to challenge for trophies should they sign De Jong? Tell us what you think here.
However, this in itself will have complications; United are unable to legally assume the debts that De Jong is owed by Barca due to contract laws. It may prove possible to construct a deal with those costs integrated into other payments to the player through his wages, bonuses, add-ons and any signing-on incentive for a transfer.
New United boss Erik ten Hag held a phone call to convince the player that he should join his project at Old Trafford. De Jong, 25, was informed that he would be the 'conductor of the orchestra' and would be an undisputed starter under Ten Hag – a similar role to the one he enjoyed so much in Amsterdam. The central midfield star initially rose to prominence at Ajax under Ten Hag.
United have had a relatively quiet transfer window to date with only Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez signed – with central midfield a priority position following the summer exits of Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic.
