Frenkie de Jong
Frenkie de Jong(Credits: Twitter)

Barcelona, on Saturday (July 16), all but confirmed that Frenkie de Jong would not be moving to Manchester United in the ongoing transfer window.

The Netherlands midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford ever since his former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag was named as the new Manchester United boss.

Earlier this week, United chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough were spotted in Barcelona. They were in Barcelona to finalise the signing of De Jong.

Frenkie de Jong
Frenkie de Jong (Credits: Twitter)

As per reports from Spanish media, Manchester United and Barcelona had reached an agreement too. The Old Trafford outfit had agreed to pay a fee of £63 million, which potentially includes an additional £8.47m in add-ons.

Frenkie de Jong to stay at Barcelona:

Barcelona were also keen to offload the 25-year old in order to register their new players. According to reports, Barcelona boss Xavi had told the midfielder to leave the club although the latter was not willing to do so.

And it looks like Barcelona have finally changed their decision regarding De Jong. Contrary to the popular expectations, the Catalan club have named the star midfielder in their squad for the preseason tour of United States.

Several reports had suggested that Barcelona would not include De Jong in the preseason squad if he does not give the green light to his transfer to United. Barcelona, however, have all but confirmed that the midfielder is unlikely to link up with Ten Hag at United ahead of the new season.

One of the reasons behind De Jong’s decision to snub Manchester United was the unpaid £17m in wages he is to get from Barcelona. Another reason was his willingness to play Champions League football. United won’t be playing in the tournament after finishing sixth in the league last season.