Manchester United chiefs have left Barcelona without concluding a deal to sign midfielder Frenkie de Jong – leaving them thoroughly frustrated by the whole ordeal.
United CEO Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough jetted to the Catalan capital on Monday to ramp up talks to sign the Dutchman. De Jong had returned to training at Barca’s facilities earlier in the day as the club attempted to negotiate his exit.
United already had an initial transfer fee agreed with Barcelona for the value of £56.2million with reports from Spain claiming that the two clubs had also shaken hands on a total package worth £72million.
Arnold and Murtough had led a United delegation who dined with their Barcelona counterparts – club president Joan Laporta, alongside the club’s transfer officials Mateu Alemany, Jordi Cruyff and Rafa Yuste – at the Via Veneto restaurant on Thursday of last week in the Catalan capital. The United chiefs then returned to the city on Monday to continue talks over food at the Triton restaurant, near Camp Nou.
Despite an agreement being reached between the clubs over the pricing and structure of a deal, the transfer cannot yet be concluded as De Jong has yet to give his consent to a move. Arnold and Murtough left the city on Wednesday empty-handed.
New United boss Erik ten Hag held a phone call to convince the player that he should join his project at Old Trafford. De Jong, 25, was informed that he would be the ‘conductor of the orchestra’ and would be an undisputed starter under Ten Hag – a similar role to the one he enjoyed so much in Amsterdam.
Yet conversely, there have been reports that De Jong has a list of 10 reasons for not joining United and former Blaugrana boss Ronald Koeman insists that De Jong has no intention of leaving Barca.
De Jong is one of the highest earners at Barcelona and he is also owed a series of payments that through amortizations and other clauses that are part of his deal. The problem for the club is that they are currently unable to process such payments, complicating the player’s future.
It remains unclear if the player’s move is being held up over these payments or if he does not intend to complete a transfer to United. However, the English club is confident their patience over negotiations would pay off as Barca privately have been open to his departure despite their stance of insisting he is not for sale.