How Ruben Neves is pushing Frenkie de Jong to Man Utd
FT Desk
- Updated: 2 Oct 2022 20:34 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona’s €57 million pursuit of Ruben Neves could finally push Frenkie de Jong to join Man Utd next summer, according to the Daily Mirror.
The Mirror reports that Barca have made the Wolves central midfielder their number one target to replace Sergio Busquets, who will leave the Blaugrana on a free transfer at the end of the season.
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Barcelona are prepared to pay around €57m for the Portugal international, who has made it clear he would be happy to make the move.
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This transfer would signal the final death blow for De Jong’s Barcelona career as the Dutchman had hoped to win over his current employers after rejecting a move away this past summer.
Man Utd and Barcelona were in negotiations for the Dutch midfielder for much of the summer and a transfer fee of €85 million was agreed.
Barcelona themselves were desperate to sell De Jong in order to fund new signings and cut their wage bill.
Why De Jong rejected Man Utd
It is widely reported that De Jong did not want to leave Barcelona because he considers them his dream club and also because he was not convinced by the sporting project at Man Utd given their struggles in recent years.
De Jong also refused to leave because he is owed a substantial amount of money by Barcelona in wages he agreed to defer during the Coronavirus pandemic. The midfielder is not prepared to just write this off.
The 25-year-old also refused to reduce his salary, as requested by Barcelona in order to stay, with reports that the Blaugrana even threatening legal action if he doesn’t do so.
The midfielder has only been a rotation player in 2022-23 thus far, starting just four of Barcelona’s games this season in La Liga and the Champions League, scoring once.
The Mirror argues that he will finally realise that he needs to leave Barcelona and join Man Utd if the Blaugrana purchase Neves.
