Why Man Utd have officially withdrawn De Jong offer
Karan Tejwani
- 16 Aug 2022 07:31 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United have officially withdrawn their offer to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona, according to Dutch journalist Marcel van der Kraan, from De Telegraaf.
The Red Devils had negotiated an €85 million fee with Barcelona, and there was a deadline for when that would expire, which has now passed.
Manchester United have now withdrawn that offer altogether, which means that they will have to start negotiations with the Blaugrana all over again if they want to sign the midfielder.
It’s unclear whether Manchester United will make a new offer or whether they have given up on signing De Jong, who has been Erik ten Hag’s primary target all summer.
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Situation could go two ways for De Jong
According to Van der Kraan, there are now two ways this situation could pan out: firstly, United make a new offer which covers some of De Jong’s demands and gives them a chance of getting the player.
De Jong is currently waiting to receive his deferred wages from Barcelona – believed to be around €18 million – which he accepted during the pandemic to help the club through their financial situation.
The second way is that United don’t make an offer at all, disappointing Ten Hag, who has been waiting to reunite with his former player all summer having been in negotiations with Barcelona since May.
Why would Frenkie de Jong want to join Man Utd?
Why would any player?@jacobsben of @cbssportsgolazo on a club who are "rotten at the foundational core" 😳 pic.twitter.com/c1ltUXMakV— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 15, 2022
The situation around his deferred wages is quite significant and could be the settling factor in this saga – De Jong accepted a new contract in October 2020 to reduce his wage, which was agreed to be paid later on in his time.
That was agreed to under Josep Bartomeu, who left the club immediately after agreeing that new deal with De Jong, and now the current board are considering legal action as a mean to get around paying that deferral.
They wish to see De Jong return to the original contract he signed when he joined the club in 2019, rather than the one he agreed to in 2020.
It’s believed that De Jong will not leave the club until he is given the money he is owed, and that could take this issue into the final days of the transfer window.
