Man Utd could offer Barcelona FOUR players in Frenkie de Jong deal

Stuart Telford

• 16 Feb 2024 09:59 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United have been tipped to bring Frenkie de Jong's €100 million asking price down by using some star players as makeweights for selling club Barcelona.

De Jong has been United's top transfer target since Erik ten Hag took the job in the summer of 2022, the pair having won the Dutch domestic double together in 2019, but until now the midfielder has been steadfast in his desire to stay at Barcelona.

But he now appears to be wavering, yet to sign a contract extension that was offered to him November, and reports in Spain suggest that Barca have slapped a €100m price tag on their Dutch star.

But with United needing to stay within Financial Fair Play regulations, they could be tempted to use some players as makeweights. Although cash-strapped Barcelona need the money, they also can't draft new talent as they would like…

United's for sale players

The Daily Express' Archie Griggs writes that "United could try to sign him for less by offering one or two of their players as part of the deal."

His report goes on to suggest that one or two could come from the four of Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Scott McTominay.

Collectively, they have market value of €96.8m per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm - nearly wiping out the entirety of De Jong's asking price - but Barca could settle for perhaps one of them, with the rest made up in hard currency.

The first three, Greenwood, Sancho and Antony, are all wingers who could take some of the attacking pressure off Robert Lewandowski at Camp Nou. While Antony has been ineffectual at United this season, Greenwood and Sancho are recovering their careers at Getafe and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

McTominay could plug a De Jong-sized gap in Barca's midfield, meanwhile, but it would appear that Casemiro's Old Trafford future is on a shakier nail with inbound minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe having previously criticised his signing.