Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

Frenkie to United?

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We need to reallocate funds to the transfer kitty. If this gets done, it won't be until the end of the window and our squad is phenomenally weak right now.

We are being massively outspent by our rivals who - as last season's table proved - are ahead of us. Not only that, there are teams who finished behind us who we need to look out for. West Ham were a game away from finishing above us, and if Newcastle's takeover had happened earlier, there's a good chance they would have pipped us too. They will definitely be stronger next season.

As well as De Jong, we need further first-team replacements (not squad additions) to the attack, midfield and defence. I can't see these happening.

This isn't to say a window of (presumably) FdJ, Martinez, Malacia, Eriksen is bad. It's just not enough compared to what our rivals are prepared to do/where we are.

As much as I do think CR7 upsets the applecart - and his comments are almost certainly entirely self-serving - his criticisms are just.
 
Read between the lines of what Laporta just said. He wants De Jong to take the financial hit whether he stays or goes. I guess his case is an important precedence for the others who've had their pay essentially docked.
 
Provided it eventually gets done this not getting sorted for another few weeks' isn't that big a deal as the player has already worked under ETH and would be unlikely to require the same 'bedding in' to the new system/coach that other players would.
 
Tavern in the town said:
It’s not about being able to afford it. Why the feck should the club pay for Barca’s feck up?
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Because that’d be a perfect example of “cutting off our nose to spite our face”.

Yes, we shouldn’t throw an extra £20m at them just to get him on the pre season tour but continuing discussions regarding add ons is fine. We need a good midfielder, he’s a good midfielder… €65m up front is still a good price regardless of Barca’s troubles.
 
crossy1686 said:
This confirms he’s off.

If he wasn’t being sold he would have simply said that “not for sale, any price”. Instead he chose to tell the world that he won’t be sold UNLESS they have no other choice, which everyone knows, they don’t.
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My guess is they want another club to come in for him to either get us to pony up, or get a bidding war going. The problem is FDJ's wages. No other club that needs could use him is going to come close to what he wants.
The stars have literally aligned for us with this transfer. It will be done but due to Barca's inept bookkeeping and financial planning, this may well drag on for a few more weeks.
 
groovyalbert said:
We need to reallocate funds to the transfer kitty. If this gets done, it won't be until the end of the window and our squad is phenomenally weak right now.

We are being massively outspent by our rivals who - as last season's table proved - are ahead of us. Not only that, there are teams who finished behind us who we need to look out for. West Ham were a game away from finishing above us, and if Newcastle's takeover had happened earlier, there's a good chance they would have pipped us too. They will definitely be stronger next season.

As well as De Jong, we need further first-team replacements (not squad additions) to the attack, midfield and defence. I can't see these happening.

This isn't to say a window of (presumably) FdJ, Martinez, Malacia, Eriksen is bad. It's just not enough compared to what our rivals are prepared to do/where we are.

As much as I do think CR7 upsets the applecart - and his comments are almost certainly entirely self-serving - his criticisms are just.
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So what should we focus on sorting out in the meantime do you reckon
 
croadyman said:
Well by all noises he's Erik's key target by some way so that should still be priority over replacing Ronaldo
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We need a new striker at least -- lost Greenwood so we need to replace him too. And if a midfielder is expensive, our negotiation for a new striker I suspect will be worse than Frenkie's. We will have less money to throw around by then. This is why the Dybala free may sound good for now.
 
It's clear to me that De Jong's aim is to stay at Barcelona. He has not once made it clear he wants to leave Barcelona and join us or other clubs. He is right now looking for ways to restructure his contract and willing to take a pay cut. That's the reason why it takes so long. All those tweets are nonsense.
 
groovyalbert said:
We need to reallocate funds to the transfer kitty. If this gets done, it won't be until the end of the window and our squad is phenomenally weak right now.

We are being massively outspent by our rivals who - as last season's table proved - are ahead of us. Not only that, there are teams who finished behind us who we need to look out for. West Ham were a game away from finishing above us, and if Newcastle's takeover had happened earlier, there's a good chance they would have pipped us too. They will definitely be stronger next season.
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Agree. We needed 4 guaranteed starters to have a chance of kicking on this season. Spurs are showing far more ambition than us, signing Richarlison for example for depth up front.

This window has been farcical for united. We need to set Barca a deadline of this week or we move on to other targets, this is getting beyond ridiculous now.
 
peridigm said:
My guess is they want another club to come in for him to either get us to pony up, or get a bidding war going. The problem is FDJ's wages. No other club that needs could use him is going to come close to what he wants.
The stars have literally aligned for us with this transfer. It will be done but due to Barca's inept bookkeeping and financial planning, this may well drag on for a few more weeks.
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Oh yeah it's going to drag on alright
 
groovyalbert said:
We need to reallocate funds to the transfer kitty. If this gets done, it won't be until the end of the window and our squad is phenomenally weak right now.

We are being massively outspent by our rivals who - as last season's table proved - are ahead of us. Not only that, there are teams who finished behind us who we need to look out for. West Ham were a game away from finishing above us, and if Newcastle's takeover had happened earlier, there's a good chance they would have pipped us too. They will definitely be stronger next season.

As well as De Jong, we need further first-team replacements (not squad additions) to the attack, midfield and defence. I can't see these happening.

This isn't to say a window of (presumably) FdJ, Martinez, Malacia, Eriksen is bad. It's just not enough compared to what our rivals are prepared to do/where we are.

As much as I do think CR7 upsets the applecart - and his comments are almost certainly entirely self-serving - his criticisms are just.
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You think he'd have wanted out if we scraped CL qualification, the only reason he wants to leave is because of CL qualification, it was being reported as such all the way back in November/December that he'd leave if this wasnt reached.

all this transfer business is a smoke screen, also he has 1 year left on his contract you think even with lots of transfers we are going to go from 7th to 1st using one window and a new coach.
 
Unam333 said:
It's clear to me that De Jong's aim is to stay at Barcelona. He has not once made it clear he wants to leave Barcelona and join us or other clubs. He is right now looking for ways to restructure his contract and willing to take a pay cut. That's the reason why it takes so long. All those tweets are nonsense.
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He’s just got engaged. He’s not renegotiating no wages.
 
Savlehest said:
I love the idea of signing new players. We really need new blood in the squad. But if it is true, he dosnt want the move, but only comes if he are pushed away. Then is he really the type of player we need right now? I would love him, but with Eriksen we have a ball controlling player. Please dont make a stupid move for a player with exceptional high wages.
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No top class players want to join united currently. We'd rightly be the 10th/11th choice of destination. We are also incapable of identifying the best young players in the world too, so what do we do?
 
Paul778 said:
I thought the figures you quote are in Euros and not Pounds.

Surely this is due to reduced and deferred payments owed to FDJ by Barca (as refered to in this thread as well as others - football-transfers).

"Barcelona then negotiated a new deal for De Jong to keep him until 2026, with De Jong earning just €3m fixed salary in 2020/21 and €9m in 2021/22, giving up as much as €16m in total. That amount is due to be paid across the four years left on his contract."

It sounds to me all this posturing is basically Barca aiming to get their money back and negotiate out of paying the money already owed to FDJ, or getting us to pay for it as part of the deal. Alternatively "Frenkie we'd like you to stay, but you need to waive these fees and sign a new contract on a lesser salary". This might be his dream club, but it looks like they are shafting him.

Just move to a different club and take them to court for the back pay, or just stay there on the existing terms. It's just a big game of chicken between Barca and FDJ.
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The figures should be in Euros, not Pounds, of course. My mistake.

Agreed fully on what Barca are doing; they are trying to maximize their gains here. One way or another they seem to be attempting to avoid paying the deferred wages FDJ is owed. To me, that seems far more likely than some people's take in here: that it is United not being capable of negotiating properly that drags the deal out.

Also, "posturing" seems to be an accurate description. There have been reports that United are confused by conflicting messages, where Laporta is in the press saying that FDJ is not for sale while simultaneously negotiating a sale with United. Could they be trying to get him to waiver loyalty payments by having him ask for a transfer?

Their wages seem to be structured weirdly. I remember seeing Griezman's wages somewhere online and they seemed to increase by the year. The figures I saw indicated that he was paid less in his first year at Barca but would then increase it by a lot.
 
peridigm said:
My guess is they want another club to come in for him to either get us to pony up, or get a bidding war going. The problem is FDJ's wages. No other club that needs could use him is going to come close to what he wants.
The stars have literally aligned for us with this transfer. It will be done but due to Barca's inept bookkeeping and financial planning, this may well drag on for a few more weeks.
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I doubt that will happen though. They’ve already agreed to sell him to us at a set price. No club outside of PSG or City are going to offer more than we have when they know that Barcelona have already accepted a sale price that’s lower.

I agree though, no one else apart from the obvious can afford his wages and are willing to make him a central figure in the team
 
Some of you have lost your fecking minds. Pay wages that Barca owe because they couldn't throw a piss up in a brewery?! Why on earth would we want to do that? I'm sure De Jong knows exactly how much we want him, he's talking regularly with our manager.

We've got to stop being taken for a ride in the transfer market. Set them a deadline and walk away if they can't get their house in order. I think De Jong is a fantastic footballer and would be a huge signing for us, but he's not the only midfielder in the world. We need to start acting like a big club again
 
MUFC OK said:
This window has been farcical for united. We need to set Barca a deadline of this week or we move on to other targets, this is getting beyond ridiculous now.
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Couldn't agree more.

It's got stupid. BBC etc said last Monday that a broad fee (or fee in principle) was all agreed. United were obviously confident to relay that information. Now the presidents recent comments are a clear sign nothing is moving at the moment and no agreement has been made.

Some reliable journalists have said United won't turn this into another Fabregas situation and will find a point to move on, but it's getting there now. And once Xavi starts talking this month, it's obvious it'll be doom. If it's not agreed by Friday night, I would 100% feel better if they inform the press that they're looking at other targets.
 
BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
Because that’d be a perfect example of “cutting off our nose to spite our face”.

Yes, we shouldn’t throw an extra £20m at them just to get him on the pre season tour but continuing discussions regarding add ons is fine. We need a good midfielder, he’s a good midfielder… €65m up front is still a good price regardless of Barca’s troubles.
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I agree with you. I was responses to posters who said we should subsidise the money he’s owed by Barca. That’s got nothing to do with the structure of the add ons.
 
Don’t care if we sign him or not anymore.. he’d be quality but I’m over it. I just want to get players in for pre season and start next season well.

In more positive news it’s made me realise just how scummy Barcelona actually are as a club.. why wouldn’t anyone willingly want to go there?
 
Whatever Barca does, we should identify someone else as no one wants a prolong saga. FDJ can stay at Barcelona if they try to funny. If they really own his wages, he can hire a lawyer and sue them to get his money. I just Barcelona is trying to maximise their return and should not entertain them. Give them a ultimatum to close this 48hrs else the deal is off. They will have a unhappy player on their hands that they may sell for a lower fee.
 
Surely the money owned to him until this point must be paid regardless of him leaving...

1. They want to inflate the fee, so they can pay him what he is owned.
2. His wages for next year are massive.
3. They want Silva and are trying to have us pay Silva money + payment due to FDJ
 
LoneStar said:
Surely you don't want to risk millions in wages despite the lifestyle or the city.

I still find it baffling that so many good players want to go there after shit like this.
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I don’t know how much FDJ and anyone who signed before the Messi fiasco knew about it.

Im with you on the current crop who still wanna go though. Raphinha and Kessie should know what’s going on and really should just have come here instead:devil:
 
LawCharltonBest said:
Couldn't agree more.

It's got stupid. BBC etc said last Monday that a broad fee (or fee in principle) was all agreed. United were obviously confident to relay that information. Now the presidents recent comments are a clear sign nothing is moving at the moment and no agreement has been made.
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I do suspect that Barca are in the process of negotiating a restructure of his salary so that he can stay, which would fit in with Laporta's comments. The final offer should be there until the weekend, then we move on.
 
Laporta is on a pr tour isn't he. We don't want to sell him (unless he refuses to knee cap his salary with us way below what he is actual worth). Perfect really.

Ita worth pointing out the very reason we might be able to sign him is the reason this is taking so long.
 
MUFC OK said:
I do suspect that Barca are in the process of negotiating a restructure of his salary so that he can stay, which would fit in with Laporta's comments. The final offer should be there until the weekend, then we move on.
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No amount of restructuring his salary will result in him staying. He needs to accept a massive cut, again, and likely waive some of his deferred pay.

It's been reported many times that isn't likely to happen. He won't accept another pay cut
 
Pronewbie said:
Read between the lines of what Laporta just said. He wants De Jong to take the financial hit whether he stays or goes. I guess his case is an important precedence for the others who've had their pay essentially docked.
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This can backfire in Bartomeu and Barca heavily, especially since he's doing it so publicly.
 
What's the likelihood of this deal being hijacked by another team? Bayern was mentioned at one point, and you would imagine they could easily persuade him to join them rather than us.
 
Laporta is one insufferable cnut. Posturing in the media but still negotiating a fee with United. If this deal was dead then Ornstein and Stone would be briefing it by now.
 
I said it before, but why do we always seem to get involved in these weird difficult deals? Griezeman was another one.
 
Giggsy13 said:
Laporta is one insufferable cnut. Posturing in the media but still negotiating a fee with United. If this deal was dead then Ornstein and Stone would be briefing it by now.
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As I say what's said behind closed doors isn't what's said to the media. He has to appear to be doing things to keep de Jong at the club. Fans won't like it if he comes out and says "We need cash, de Jong can go if he wants" it won't happen.
 
I've watched him a a lot over the last couple of years. He's OK. Nothing special, it's all dragging on a bit, not too bothered if he comes or not. I think Eriksen is a better player,happier with that one.
 
Brownie85 said:
No amount of restructuring his salary will result in him staying. He needs to accept a massive cut, again, and likely waive some of his deferred pay.

It's been reported many times that isn't likely to happen. He won't accept another pay cut
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He's stupid enough to accept a massive cut. Stupidly in love with Barcelona.
 
I'd just let it drag on if I was on the United team. It's a little risky but I'd bet that FdJ choses us over Chelsea for example because of the EtH link. Only because Chelsea are the only realistic link right now, if a team like City / PSG / Bayern / RM got involved, we'd be fecked.

Meanwhile we make some signings in other positions (Antony, Martinez, Eriksen etc.) to keep our fickle fans and EtH somewhat happy. FCB fans will rachet up the pressure on Laporta because they can't really sign anyone at all. No Lewa, No Bernardo, No Kounde, No Raphinha and they can't really register Kessie with La Liga despite their signing confirmation.

Just need a realistic backup plan in case this falls flat but we need to have that regardless.
 
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