Man Utd prepare fresh Frenkie De Jong transfer bid

Stuart Telford

• 18 Dec 2022 08:46 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United were frustrated in their attempts to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona last summer, but they haven't given up hope of persuading to Dutchman to join.

De Jong was Erik ten Hag's top transfer target last summer, the coach keen to bolster his midfield with a player he won the Dutch domestic double with at Ajax in 2019, but the player wasn't for budging.

Barcelona were willing to cash in amid their financial difficulties, but De Jong previously described Barca as his "dream club," and had no intention of leaving for a team that had failed to qualify for the Champions League, especially with his current employers still owing him €17 million in deferred wages.

READ: Ten Hag's Dream Man Utd XI

Frustrated, Ten Hag and United dipped into the market for Real Madrid's Casemiro - to the tune of €80m - and Christian Eriksen, who arrived on a free from Brentford, and both have impressed with the Red Devils, but Ten Hag still thinks he can fit De Jong into his side.

"De Jong, 25, whose contract at the Nou Camp was complicated by the club's financial restructuring, never gave any indication he was willing to leave," reports the BBC's Simon Stone.

"But it is understood Ten Hag wants to revisit the situation in the summer."

A Premier League finish among the Champions League places would help United's cause, as should the fact that De Jong has only been Barca's fourth most used midfielder this season with Pedri, Gavi and Sergio Busquets all handed more starts in La Liga.

READ: Frenkie de Jong hits out at Barca over Man Utd transfer saga

Frenkie de Wronged

United also have a window of opportunity given De Jong's annoyance at how Barcelona treated him last summer.

"One day a paper published details of my contract," he told Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf last month. "I didn't leak it and only one other party knew about it, so it had to be the club who did it.

"Suddenly there was a letter in which the question was asked whether my contract was still valid because the previous president made the contract. I was very annoyed the club did this, but I had no further influence on things."