Man Utd dealt fresh blow as De Jong joins Barcelona on tour despite €85m agreement

Lewis Oldham
Man Utd target De Jong

Frenkie de Jong is part of FC Barcelona’s squad for their upcoming pre-season tour in the US despite Man Utd agreeing a fee to sign him.

The Red Devils have been targeting De Jong throughout this summer. New boss Erik ten Hag has identified him as a key target.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Man Utd and Barcelona had come to a ‘full agreement’ over the transfer. This would see United pay an initial €75m plus €10m extra in add-ons.


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The clubs still have obstacles to overcome if the transfer is going to be completed though.

Fabrizio Romano is reporting that the player still has ‘no intention’ to leave Barcelona this summer.

The saga has now taken a fresh twist as De Jong has been included in Barcelona’s squad for their pre-season tour in the states.

The Spanish giants have games coming up during the tour against Inter Miami, Real Madrid, Juventus and New York Red Bulls over the next couple of weeks.

Romano adds that there is ‘no agreement on the player side’ with Man Utd. It is understood that personal terms are still to be discussed.

Elsewhere, Scott McTominay is confident that Manchester United are “more than capable” of winning trophies under their new boss Erik ten Hag.

The Red Devils have not won a trophy since 2017. Asked if he sensed a determination in the dressing room to put things right, McTominay said: “Yeah, 100 per cent. It’s obviously difficult to speak about that last year.

“Obviously it touched a nerve in terms of when we speak about it again as a group.

“It’s not nice and that’s got to be the motivation now to put everything back to normal and obviously go for trophies again under the new boss because I know that this squad is more than capable of doing that.”

He continued: “You’re playing for Man United, you’re going to get criticised.

“If you think you’re going to come and play for Man United and you’re not going to get a little bit of criticism here and there, then you’re in the wrong job because that’s just not how it works at this football club.

“Maybe you need to have a little look in the mirror because that’s just part and parcel of the game.

“Everyone gets criticised, that’s the world we live in, social media criticism.

“You only see it how much you want see it. That’s part and parcel of it as well.”