Manchester United have now reached a ‘full agreement’ over a transfer fee for Frenkie de Jong with Barcelona, says Fabrizio Romano.
It has been a long, protracted saga but the journalist says that United have now made a breakthrough in terms of how much they will pay for the Dutchman.
He says that United have agreed to pay more than £63 million up front to get the midfielder away from the Nou Camp.
A further fee of around £8.5 million could be paid in add-ons, which would likely be related to de Jong’s appearances and success at Old Trafford.
Romano says United have a full agreement over fee for de Jong
The deal is not completely done – and he has not yet given it his ‘here we go’ treatment for that reason.
The next step is for United to agree personal terms with the former Ajax midfielder, who has maintained throughout the summer he wants to stay with the La Liga club.
You would hope that over the course of these agonising, protracted negotiations that United have gleaned some idea of what de Jong would accept in terms of salary.
Hopefully, that next part of the process does not take as long as it has taken to get a full agreement over the fee.
United have tried to take a hard stance with Barcelona, given their well-known financial struggles and their need for money to make their own signings.
Barca’s move for Raphinha has moved forward rapidly, which did suggest they thought they were about to get some money from somewhere.
Recently, La Liga expert Alvaro Montero said he expected a deal to get done to bring de Jong to Old Trafford eventually.
He said: “De Jong is an amazing player but if Barcelona sell him, it would be a good operation. His value means they are taking the positives from a bad situation.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
