HERE WE GO: Manchester United have finally won the transfer race over Chelsea and Liverpool to the signing of £70m midfielder, verbal agreement reached last night, jersey number picked as play now arriving for Medical
HERE WE GO: Manchester United have finally won the transfer race over Chelsea and Liverpool to the signing of £70m midfielder, verbal agreement reached last night, jersey number picked as play now arriving for Medical
Manchester United are aiming to sign a new midfielder before the transfer window closes.
The Red Devils have been linked with Paris Saint-Germain’s Manuel Ugarte in recent weeks, but a deal could be hard to pull off due to the demands of the French champions.
Les Parisiens are eyeing around £60 million for the former Sporting CP man and they have no plans of reducing their valuation despite the recent arrival of Joao Neves.
This could force the Red Devils to look at alternative options and Sport today (page 6) claim that the club could make a fresh approach to sign Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong.
It is reported that United will ‘spare no effort’ to try and sign the Netherlands international, but they face a big hurdle with De Jong reluctant to part ways with the Catalan giants.
The former Ajax man previously turned down the chance to join United two years ago.
De Jong, who is currently nursing an ankle injury picked up last season, has two years left on his contract on a huge salary. Barcelona are open to selling him for £51m.
The club are desperate to return to the 1:1 spending rule but require a significant sale.
Sport claim that the arrival of De Jong at United would be the ‘icing on the cake’.
United unlikely to sign De Jong due to multiple reasons
United manager Erik ten Hag was determined to reunite with De Jong in 2022. The club reached an agreement with Barcelona, but the midfielder refused to negotiate terms.
The 27-year-old has shown no interest in leaving the Spanish giants over the years and in our view, it is unlikely that he will contemplate an exit during the ongoing transfer window.
First of all, he is undergoing his rehabilitation after an ankle injury and has yet to return to team training.
The price tag may not be a concern for United, but his wages could be a huge stumbling block.
The Dutchman earns a basic salary of around £406,000 per week at Barcelona and he could demand an increase on the same if he were to join another club before the deadline.
This may not seem practical for the Red Devils. Casemiro is the highest earner at £350,000 weekly with Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes behind him – both on £300,000 per week.
Unless the club manage to remove Casemiro from their wage bill, they may struggle to meet the wage requirements of De Jong, who was described as ‘world-class‘ by manager Xavi.
With multiple hurdles, United are unlikely to sign the Dutch midfielder this summer.
