Xavi statement decides Frenkie de Jong transfer as Barcelona'secretly pushes' Man United move
Frenkie de Jong has been linked with a move to Manchester United throughout the summer, and despite their public stance that he is not for sale, Barcelona may sell the midfielder.
Barcelona are'secretly pushing' for Manchester United midfielder Frenkie de Jong to join them this summer, with Xavi already expressing his displeasure with a deal.
United have agreed an initial transfer fee of £56.2 million with Barcelona to sign the midfielder this summer. According to reports, the player has already cleared out his locker at Barcelona, with a move to Old Trafford looming. Erik ten Hag, the new manager of Manchester United, coached De Jong at Ajax and held a phone call with the player to persuade him to join his project at Old Trafford.
De Jong, 25, was told he would be the 'conductor of the orchestra' and an undisputed starter under Ten Hag, a role similar to the one he had in Amsterdam. However, the deal has become protracted and drawn out over several months, with De Jong's former manager Ronald Koeman claiming that the player has no intention of leaving Barcelona.
On Saturday, a report detailed how the midfielder has ten reasons for not joining United and instead opting to stay at Barcelona beyond this summer. However, this appears to contradict the Catalan club's stated intention to sell the player this summer.
According to a detailed report from Diario AS, there is a widespread belief among Barcelona executives that De Jong should be released. Nobody, however, is willing to take direct responsibility for this stance or publicly support it.
The report quotes Xavi as saying after Barcelona conceded a late equalizer away to Osasuna midway through the La Liga season, "We don't have footballers with the total packaging to control the game." That is thought to be a dig at De Jong, whose job it is to control games in the side's midfield.
It is also mentioned that De Jong was signed by the club's former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, with the signing seen as a vindication for that board - as they beat Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to the player's signature, with a special visit to the player included in order to convince him to join Barca. As a result, the club believes that his sale would not be an admission of error by the current board, led by Joan Laporta.
De Jong has 13 goals and 17 assists in 138 Barcelona games, figures that are not considered sufficient to classify the Dutch midfielder as an irreplaceable member of the squad. Indeed, it is mentioned that Laporta considered selling Gavi this summer in order to raise funds before being persuaded to reconsider - but De Jong could command a comparable fee.
The transfer saga has dragged on for months, but De Jong's future remains uncertain, with Barcelona still open to selling him to United - but there appears to be little commitment from any party regarding the deal.
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