Barcelona officials have met with Frenkie de Jong and asked him to accept Manchester United’s offer after the two teams agreed a fee, according to reports.
After weeks of intense negotiations, the Red devils have agreed to pay a fee of £63m up front plus another £10m in various bonuses and add-ons.
But, the transfer saga still has a long way to run with De Jong still not convinced about moving to Old Trafford – particularly given that there is no Champions League football on offer.
The 25-year-old is happy and settled in Barcelona and would like to remain at Camp Nou, while he does not believe a transfer move to United is in the best interests of his career.
But Barcelona’s hierarchy consider the transfer a necessity given their financial fair play situation and, according to Mundo Deportivo, spoke with De Jong on Thursday to make known their predicament.
It was made clear to the Dutchman that he needs to leave for the benefit of the La Liga club, with his exit allowing Barca to register new signings and target new players.
Although Barcelona have agreed a deal for Raphinha and signed Dembele up to a new contract, neither player can be registered with La Liga yet.
Barca still need to raise more funds and De Jong’s exit would solve a lot of problems, and the club have now told the Netherlands midfielder that they would prefer him to accept United’s offer and leave the club.
They have made it clear that it is not a sporting decision but a financial one and Xavi rates him highly, but the Barca coach is happy to go along with the board and sacrifice the player.
Whether Barcelona’s conversation is enough to push De Jong towards Old Trafford is another matter, with the player unhappy with how he has been treated so far.
His agent, Ali Dursun, is believed to be fuming with Barcelona’s hierarchy and is pushing the former Ajax midfielder to leave the club and join United – though he still remains reluctant.
De Jong is also said to have spoken with Erik ten Hag on several occasions – his old manager in Amsterdam – and despite some promising chats would prefer to stay playing Champions League football in Barcelona.
There is another issue preventing the deal from happening, with Barca reportedly owing De Jong as much as £17million in unpaid wages – something he would want paid in full given how he has been forced out.
