Manchester United are reportedly close to the signing of Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona in a move which will surely please incoming manager Erik ten Hag.
What’s the word?
According to a report from AS (via The Faithful MUFC), a deal is close for the transfer of the Dutchman from Camp Nou to Old Trafford.
The report stated that if United make an offer of €70m (£59.6m) then the La Liga side will allow the 25-year-old to leave.
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Ten Hag would then reunite with his former Ajax protégé, and this news will surely excite the Old Trafford faithful.
Better than Paul Pogba
De Jong is currently valued at £63m by Transfermarkt and could well be the marquee signing that Ten Hag needs to make to instantly make an impression on United supporters who are desperate for success.
With the likelihood of Paul Pogba leaving the club upon the expiry of his contract this summer, as Juventus seemingly offer the midfielder a deal to return to Italy, then the Red Devils urgently need another central midfielder.
In the 25-year-old, they would get an instant upgrade on the Frenchman. It's clear that the Netherlands international offers more of a goalscoring threat from midfield, with four goals this season compared to Pogba’s solitary strike.
De Jong also has a higher pass completion rate than the 29-year-old (90.1% to 83.5%), generates more than double the amount of shot-creating actions (104 to 56) and has made significantly fewer fouls over the course of the season (37 to 56).
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These figures clearly prove that signing De Jong would be a shrewd move, and with Ten Hag knowing exactly what he would get from the Barcelona maestro from their mutual time at Ajax, then it’s a transfer that makes absolutely perfect sense.
With Barca manager Xavi dubbing the midfielder a “genius”, it could be a massive loss to the Spanish side in the long-term, but it would be a tremendous coup to kickstart the Ten Hag era at Old Trafford.