Could United finally land their first signing of the summer?
Manchester United could be close to finally making their first signing of the Erik ten Hag era, with reports suggesting that Frenkie de Jong has ‘cleared out’ his locker at Barcelona ahead of a potential move to Old Trafford.
De Jong has been consistently linked with a move to United where he would reunite with Ten Hag – who was his boss at Ajax – as the Dutchman begins to rebuild the Red Devils.
Talks are ongoing between the two clubs.
United are currently in talks with the Catalan giants but both parties are still some way off in terms of negotiations as they work to find an agreement.
Any deal to sign the Dutch international will require a large fee after an opening bid of £60m was rejected, with Barcelona holding out closer to Man United’s club-record fee of £89m, which they paid for Paul Pogba back in 2016. But other reports suggest that £65m may be enough for the Catalan giants to accept a deal
Barcelona have previously hinted that they are willing to offload De Jong in order to help restore *some* financial respect to their name as they feel that he is the most sellable asset.
De Jong previously played down reports of a move to United.
And it seems like there has finally been a breakthrough with AS reporting that De Jong has cleared his belongings from his locker at Barca’s training ground after he had been convinced that a move to United would be good for his career.
The midfielder has previously played down reports of a Camp Nou departure and called them the “biggest club in the world” but it looks like the 25-year-old is edging closer to becoming a United player.
Should a move go through and De Jong is unveiled as a United player, he will no doubt be the first of what is going to be a major rebuild at Old Trafford.