How Tielemans could bring De Jong to Man Utd in January
FT Desk
- 12 Oct 2022 15:55 BST
- 3 min read
Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans could hold the key for Manchester United finally signing Frenkie de Jong.
According to Sport, Man Utd still want to buy the Barcelona midfielder in 2023 and the Blaugrana are also still keen to offload him.
Barcelona are looking to sign a new central midfielder in January and are preparing an offer for Leicester star Tielemans.
The Belgium midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season, and Barcelona are confident they can buy him on a cut-price deal when the January window opens.
That will push De Jong even further down the Barcelona pecking order, which could prompt the player to finally accept a move to Man Utd, should they make a fresh bid.
Man Utd and Barcelona were in negotiations for De Jong for most of the past summer.
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The Blaugrana allegedly made it clear to De Jong that if he refused a move away from the club then he would have to reduce his salary in order to remain.
The reason for that is because Barcelona needed to raise cash by selling players and lowering their wage bill in order meet La Liga spending requirements, which they eventually did by selling off club assets.
De Jong rejected Man Utd in summer
In the end, De Jong refused to join Man Utd as he preferred to stay at Barcelona.
De Jong also refused to reduce his salary, with reports that Barcelona even threatened legal action if he didn’t do so.
The 25-year-old was said to be angry that Barcelona were refusing to pay him €18 million in wages he is owed after he agreed to defer them to help the club through their post-Coronavirus financial crisis.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta denied the threat of legal action earlier this week but did confirm they want De Jong to reduce his salary. The Dutchman has been a bit-part player this season, making only four starts.
This strengthens the chances of De Jong indeed deciding to leave in 2023.
