Man Utd have told Barcelona that they are willing to pay €50m (£42m) to sign Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong in the summer, according to reports.
The Red Devils are having a bad time of it in the Premier League this season with Man Utd currently 13th in the table after replacing Erik ten Hag with Ruben Amorim in November.
Results and performances under Amorim have actually been worse than under Ten Hag and there are rumours that there could be a large turnover of players at Man Utd in the summer transfer window.
Ten Hag was known for buying a number of players who had played under him at Ajax with Andre Onana, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Noussair Mazraoui all signing.
Netherlands internationals Joshua Zirkzee and Tyrell Malacia were also signed by Ten Hag and there were rumours throughout his tenure that he wanted to sign another compatriot in the form of Barcelona midfielder De Jong.
However, a move for De Jong never materialised because the Dutchman made it clear that he wanted to remain at the Camp Nou with Man Utd struggling to attract the top players to Old Trafford.
A previous report in December described De Jong as a ‘hot potato’ at the Camp Nou with the Barcelona’s future always up in the air after making just four La Liga starts under Hansi Flick this term.
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And now fresh reports in Spain claim that Man Utd have ‘reached’ €50m (£42m) for De Jong as they ‘are asking again about’ the Netherlands international once again.
The Red Devils ‘continue to insist on signing’ De Jong from Barcelona and the report adds:
‘With the dismissal of Erik Ten Hag last October, in addition to the Barça star’s injury and performance issues at the time, his name had disappeared from their list of targets. But now, they have brought him back and are considering signing him.’
Man Utd ‘hope to sign him for a more affordable price’ after being quoted around €80m when Ten Hag was in charge.
The report continues:
’50 million is the amount that Rubén Amorim’s team has put on the table at Barça , hoping that they would accept and give the English board permission to begin talks with the midfielder born in 1997.
‘Laporta and Deco won’t settle for that figure to allow De Jong to leave, despite having asked for much less money until recently. And Barça’s intention is to fight to the bitter end to retain him and extend his commitment.’
There had been rumours that Bruno Fernandes could leave in the summer as Man Utd look to raise funds but transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists that the captain will stay at Old Trafford.
Romano told GiveMeSport: “Yes, he signed a new deal 8 months ago as he trusts the project and he’s a key player for Ruben Amorim. He’s so important for United and he’s staying.”
