FC Barcelona insisting Frenkie De Jong joins Man United to make funds available

Dutch midfielder Frenkie De Jong must sign for Manchester United insists FC Barcelona in order to make funds available for registering new players.

FC Barcelona are reported to be pressing 25-year-old Dutch midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, into signing for English Premier League club Manchester United. There has even been talk coming from the upper echelons of the Catalan giants that they are threatening to leave the player out of their pre-season tour of North America. 

The current dilemma at Barça is that they have to balance their books before they can register any new players. Club sources reportedly informed EFE that they must generate a saving of between 30 and €40 million in the total wage bill before they can register two players who they have already signed, along with Sergi Roberto who recently renewed his contract, according to 20minutos.es.

Danish international defender Andreas Christensen has joined from Chelsea, and Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie came from AC Milan. Erik ten Hag, the new coach of the Old Trafford club is a huge fan of De Jong, having managed his early career at Ajax. As a result, he has convinced the United board to offer €75 million for the Dutchman, plus another €10 million in add-ons.

If this deal can be forced through then FC Barcelona will actually generate a saving of €42 million. De Jong is believed to earn a salary of €19 million gross per season, an amount that the club is eager to eliminate from its financial books.

The financial crisis at the Blaugrana has been widely documented of late, with the club even selling 10 per cent of its LaLiga television rights for the next 25 years to the investment fund Sixth Street for €207.5 million. It is believed that in the next few weeks this process will be repeated, but for another 15 per cent.

Getting De Jong to move to Man United is only one part of the financial headache. Should he go, funding of between 20 and €25 million still has to be available to register two more players. Brazilian star Raphina was acquired earlier this week from Leeds United, while Ousmane Dembele did a massive U-turn and decided to stay at the club.

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