Barcelona star REJECTS Man Utd

Carlo Garganese

• 3 Sept 2024 10:30 BST
• 3 min read

That is according to Sport, who report that Barcelona tried to sell De Jong this summer and attempted to push him to United.

Man Utd were in the market for a top central midfielder and De Jong was one of their main options together with Manuel Ugarte, who eventually joined late in the transfer window.

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Sport reports that Barcelona were desperate to get De Jong’s wages off their books and also are concerned that the midfielder is planning to run down his contract that expires in 2026.

De Jong had an asking price of just €35-40 million but the Dutch midfielder made it clear he had no intention of leaving.

United’s interest in De Jong is long standing, with current manager Erik ten Hag a huge fan of the player after they worked together at Ajax and reached the 2019 Champions League semi-final.

Man Utd tried to sign De Jong before

Barcelona are understood to have accepted an €85 million bid from Man Utd in July 2022, and made it clear that they wanted him to move to Old Trafford.

But De Jong refused to join Man Utd and stayed at Barcelona, despite interest from Chelsea and Bayern Munich as well.

De Jong played a key role as Barca won La Liga in the 2022-23 season, making 33 league appearances, scoring two goals and providing four assists.

But he struggled more during a disappointing Barcelona season last term and missed Euro 2024 due to injury.

Now 27, this is his sixth season at Camp Nou after joining from Ten Hag’s Ajax in 2019 for €75m.

Barcelona have made an excellent start to the new season under new manager Hansi Flick, winning all four of their La Liga matches.