Man Utd under pressure to get second Frenkie de Jong agreement done as European giants join race

Manchester United will have to quickly sort out a second transfer agreement for Frenkie de Jong amid claims a European heavyweight has joined the chase for him.

Manchester United agreed a deal with Barcelona for De Jong earlier in the summer, only for it to expire recently. The Red Devils couldn’t get personal terms sorted with the midfielder and this led to the move stalling.

Another problem is the fact Barca owe De Jong £17million in wages and other missed payments.

The Spanish club want to offload De Jong to help ease their financial struggles and boost their chances of bringing new stars in. But the Dutchman would like to remain at the Nou Camp, which is why Manchester United have struggled to sort out a contract with him.

Erik ten Hag’s side have already brought in Casemiro from Real Madrid in a £60m deal. But reports claim United want to improve their midfield further by capturing De Jong as well.

As per Spanish newspaper Sport, United chiefs are preparing to meet again with their Barca counterparts later this week.

They will aim to strike up a new agreement for De Jong. Then, United officials will look at getting him to finally agree personal terms.

United’s plan to get De Jong to Old Trafford in the last week of the transfer window sounds like a good one. But it has come under pressure due to Bayern Munich joining the pursuit.

Bayern want Man Utd target Frenkie de Jong

According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, the reigning Bundesliga champions are eyeing midfield reinforcements and have set their sights on De Jong.

Rather than paying an outright fee for the 25-year-old, they want to sign him on loan. It would be a similar deal to the one which took Philippe Coutinho to the Allianz Arena, prior to his Aston Villa switch.

Bayern are happy to pay De Jong’s wages in full for the current campaign before buying him next summer. This would give Barca the chance to get him off their wage bill, though they wouldn’t receive a transfer fee until next year.

It is now up to Barca to decide which proposal is better for them. While United are willing to pay them £72m straight away for De Jong, the Bayern loan may actually be the better option.

It would give Barca 12 months to pay back the £17m in wages they owe De Jong. This would prevent them from getting into trouble with FIFA over missed wage payments.

United will soon find out about Bayern’s offer, and this will give them even more motivation to land De Jong first. The last thing they want to see is him joining another major European team after such a long pursuit.

Meanwhile, four players could follow Eric Bailly out of Old Trafford amid the defender’s proposed move to Marseille.