The Premier League is less than a week away from kicking off, and as a result, desperation at Manchester United in their race to bring in a new midfielder grows by the day.
It is no secret that the Red Devils want no one other than Frenkie de Jong, Barcelona's brilliant midfielder, but a number of issues have stalled a reunion with Erik ten Hag. One huge roadblock is the finances at the Camp Nou, with the Spanish giants owing the former Ajax man a huge sum of money in deferred wages despite spending big to sign Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski this summer.
The club reportedly owe De Jong approximately $21M, with the Daily Mail now claiming that Manchester United will take on that debt and pay the midfielder that amount in order to secure his signature. The British tabloid write that Ten Hag has demanded the club do everything within their power to get the 25-year-old, and this doesn't only mean paying Frenkie the deferred wages Barcelona owe him.
The report goes a step further and claim that the 20-time English champions are ready to make the Dutchman the highest-paid player at Old Trafford as they are set to match his current £450,000-a-week salary (just over $550K per seven days).
Barcelona are currently in the United States but will return to Spain this week, with Manchester United tipped to enter new talks over De Jong then. The Catalan giants are also keen on moving on the midfielder and getting his wages off the books as they look to register their new signings and possibly wage a late bid for Manchester City star Bernardo Silva.
A deal is already in place between the two clubs, with Manchester United agreeing to pay the Blaugrana $87M for the maestro. However, De Jong isn't sold on a move to the Theatre of Dreams, with the player's preference being to remain at the Camp Nou in order to fight for his spot. Ten Hag's side do not have UEFA Champions League football to offer the Dutchman this season, meaning they will be in for a hard job convincing him to put pen to paper.
