This week marks the end of yet another week of little to no movement on the ongoing negotiations between Man United and Barcelona over midfielder Frenkie De Jong. With the start of the Premier League season only two short weeks away, I’m worried United won’t be able to get De Jong and Ajax’s Antony transfers over the line before the transfer window slams shut.
Thankfully, the Premier League has reverted back (for three years now) to the traditional September 1st deadline for the Summer Transfer Window, rather than the “eve of the season” deadline prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, the extra month of transfer dealing has not given me any more hope that Manchester United and the club’s transfer negotiators will be able to fulfill Erik Ten hag’s dream of acquiring Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona. And I’m not even sure United will be able to convince Ajax to sell Antony, a key member of the Dutch club’s starting 11, before the 1st of September.
This Frenkie De Jong saga has gone on for months (the start of June, to be more specific) and has taken more twists and turns than a game of twister. First, the rumors were that Barcelona didn’t want to sell De Jong at any price. Then it was Barcelona wanted to sell him, but De Jong didn’t want to go to a team not playing in the Champions League next year (which categorizes Manchester United next season). Now, it is that both Barcelona and De Jong have agreed to part ways, but De Jong is demanding to receive his unpaid wages from the Catalan giants before he leaves.
This transfer saga has been an utter circus!
I’m still 80%-85% confident that Manchester United will be able to sign Frenkie De Jong some point before September 1st as Barcelona must sell players to meet the La Liga salary cap requirement. Barcelona’s recent acquisitions of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich and Raphinha from Leeds United all but confirmed De Jong’s status as “surplus to requirements”. Nevertheless, Barcelona may have to sell De Jong, but they don’t have to sell him to United.
With Chelsea’s reported interest in the Dutch international, I can easily see a scenario playing out with Barcelona paying De Jong his wages, De Jong agrees to leave, Chelsea come swooping in with a larger bid for the midfielder than United, and De Jong signs for Chelsea as they are a club playing in the Champions League next season. Essentially, it would be a Darwin Nunez situation all over again for Manchester United.
Hopefully, Erik Ten Hag (De Jong’s former Ajax manager) as United Manger and the club’s long stated desire for the Dutch midfielder convinces De Jong to join Manchester United, over Chelsea, if (really more like when) he leaves Barcelona.
As for Antony, I’m 99% sure that if he leaves Ajax, he will join Manchester United. According to some reports, the Brazilian winger’s agent has been seen in Manchester. Due to his close relationship with Ten Hag (as he is also a former player under the Ajax boss), I can only see him leaving Ajax for United. However, the problem for Manchester United will be getting him out of Ajax.
Ajax have already sold Lisandro Martinez to Manchester United this summer, and I can see the club being far wearier of losing more members of last season’s starting 11. Plus, Ajax’s current manager, Alfred Schreuder, has already come out and stated that it is unlikely Antony leaves this summer. Do I believe him? Not really. If United put in a €80M bid for the winger, Ajax will sell. It is just a matter of how much United want to pay for Antony.
Having already acquired Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, and Tyrell Malacia, Manchester United’s summer’s transfer window should be seen as ” incomplete”. Signing Frenkie De Jong and Antony will go a long way to capping off (in a good way) what has been the most chaotic and frustrating Manchester United transfer window in recent memory.
Images Source: Featured Image:
Other Sources: (Antony Agent Rumors) (Man Utd transfer news LIVE: Antony agent flies to Manchester, Frenkie de Jong latest, Anthony Martial to STAY | The Sun)
