Manchester United will reportedly do “everything they can” to sign Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong this summer, despite unveiling their new £60million signing Casemiro before their 2-1 win over Liverpool on Monday evening. Erik ten Hag’s side have been chasing the Dutch playmaker’s signature all summer and there were questions over whether they would continue to pursue a deal for the 24-year-old after signing Casemiro from Real Madrid.
Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth has claimed that United still will try to take De Jong from Barcelona this summer however. “It’s clear that throughout this transfer window even though Manchester United have had their number one targets, they have kept alternatives warm,” Sheth said on Sky Sports News. “I think that has been the case with Cody Gakpo, and the likes of Christian Pulisic of Chelsea as well.
“The other saga that has been running throughout this transfer window, however unlikely it seems, is the pursuit of Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona. Even though any kind of signing of Frenkie de Jong looks slim, Manchester United will always keep the door open for that deal.
“The door will not be closed on Frenkie de Jong. They are keeping an eye on Barcelona’s situation, because as it stands they still haven’t registered Jules Kounde, one of their summer signings. He still can’t play for Barcelona.
“Budgets could be an issue for Manchester United, because they will have a portion, certain amounts of money for the forward line, certain amounts of money to the midfield as well for this transfer window.
“Just say for example, all of the money they set aside for Frenkie de Jong went on Casemiro, and that one is effectively done, then you can say there’s no chance of Frenkie de Jong coming. But if they were given the indication from Barcelona ‘We’ve got everything sorted with our side, Frenkie de Jong we want to do business with Manchester United still’, nobody is telling me that Manchester United are going to say ‘You know what, thanks but no thanks’.
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“He is their number one target, they will do everything they can to try and find a structure and a deal to be able to sign Frenkie de Jong.”
The stumbling block surrounding United’s pursuit of De Jong is the money in deferred wages that the player is owed by Barcelona. The Catalan club reportedly owe their player between £14-17m in backdated pay after he took a temporary wage cut to help the club deal with Covid-19 complications.
United turned their attention to Casemiro however as they showed off their new signing at Old Trafford prior to their victory over Liverpool, but there is still a chance that Erik ten Hag could pair both Casemiro and De Jong together this season.
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