Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

[dove]

I hope people in here are ready for the absolute meltdown thats going to occur now.

People are ready but not sure you are to be fair People in the "it's in the bag" camp are as silly as the "walk away" one. Him coming to the tour is expected because the transfer is not as close as some here make it out to be. His priority is quite clearly to stay at Barca and we are his fallback option in case he is forced to leave pretty much. Whether we should be going for players like him I am not sure but it's entirely different discussion.

 

[No Idea For Nickname]

 

[Adisa]

He's bound to go on the tour - Barca are playing hardball, as are we.

Hardball with who? We've agreed a fee.

 

[Brownie85]

True enough. I just hope we're being sensible in the background and doing the groundwork on the alternatives. Appreciate we'll give this every chance to work itself out but hope we don't leave ourselves exposed if it doesn't turn out the way we'd like.

From what i've read, we're playing the long waiting game on this one, and if he's not here before the start of the PL, so be it, we'll see it out.

James Ducker (The Telegraph) now claims that the Red Devils are willing to play the long game, and wait for De Jong to make his final decision, even if it means after the start of the Premier League season.


He states: “Manchester United are prepared to play the long game in their £72 million pursuit of Frenkie de Jong even if they have not secured a deal for the Barcelona midfielder by the time the new Premier League season starts.”

“United are hoping the situation will be resolved as swiftly as possible but they are prepared to sit tight.”

“If the current salary deadlock proves insurmountable between De Jong and Barcelona, United are likely to be forced to pursue other targets but manager Erik ten Hag – who considers his former Ajax player to be integral to his plans – believes the current wait will be worth it. ”

So yeah... it's going to be a long summer and i think any other target will be when the de Jong deal is totally dead in the water and no chance of it happening. We might be prepared to go until the final week of the window to be fair

 

[sullydnl]

That's not going to happen

Whatever about Eriksen and De Jong, I could easily see us not signing another mid, with De Jong being partnered by Fred/McTominay/VDB rotating.

 

[bludsucker]

Need to walk away. Has it been said before this is definitely giving off Di Maria vibes.

 

[Real Name]

Cue posts about incoming meltdown.

 

[Wilt]

Seems the De Jong saga is just the tip of the iceberg. UEFA need to step in and force Barca to get their finances in order.

If other clubs act the same as Barca, football will spiral into absolute chaos. UEFA slapping Barca with a transfer or Champions League ban would soon put an end to all this shit.

 

[Evans999]

Pull the plug and withdraw offer. Let Barca ruin themselves

 

[Real Name]

Need to walk away. Has it been said before this is definitely giving off Di Maria vibes.

Good you mentioned it. Needs reminding.

 

[BluesJr]

Need to walk away. Has it been said before this is definitely giving off Di Maria vibes.

This is surely a joke.

 

[Castia]

People still think this is a ploy for money? zero chance of this happening

Well played we've just wasted a full summer on a player who isn't going anywhere.

 

[Chairman Steve]

Means feck all anyway. At least he’s doing pre-season training of some form rather than sitting at home on strike.

Lets see how much energy he exerts when he does play… or if he even does play, because a nasty injury could screw the whole thing up.

 

[Brownie85]

Thanks Romano for that brand new bit of info. If my employer owed me €17m for servces rendered and refused to pay me whilst wanting me out, i'd hold firm too and have no intention to leave. Why would i give them the satisfaction of being let off with so much money?

 

[RkkMan]

Like I said last night if Barcelona REALLY wanted him out they'd have left him at Barcelona. At this point it's best for Utd to move on. Whatever obstacle we're facing seems too big for us to solve this window

 

[the_cliff]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the first time I've ever seen a team agree a fee for one of their players and still take the player on tour.

Looks like we're being taken for a ride.

Here's to hoping we've moved on.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Its going to drag on forever.

I can see if nothing comes out this summer, we may try again next summer.

 

[BluesJr]

People still think this is a ploy for money? zero chance of this happening

Well played we've just wasted a full summer on a player who isn't going anywhere.

You’ve been presented with so much evidence that the player literally has to leave. Try and take it in.

 

[Remember the geese]

That's not going to happen

Of course it will. We aren't signing another midfielder on top of Eriksen and De Jong.

 

[Brownie85]

People still think this is a ploy for money? zero chance of this happening

Well played we've just wasted a full summer on a player who isn't going anywhere.

Might have thought you'd be right at the top of the meltdown list to be fair.

Why follow the thread if you know for sure it's not happening??

 

[Castia]

You’ve been presented with so much evidence that the player literally has to leave. Try and take it in.

That's the thing...no he doesn't.

He has a contract, he doesn't need to go anywhere and he doesn't seem to care what Barcelona think hence him going on tour even after they've publicly slated him.

 

[sullydnl]

Presumably we have back-ups to FDJ in mind. As long as they're still available to fall back on later, I guess we just wait for the FDJ/Barca drama to play out.

He's obviously by far our first choice in which case he's worth waiting for, as long as waiting doesn't screw us out of alternatives if it doesn't work out.

 

[groovyalbert]

Glazers are going to have to open up funds for one of Tielemens or Neves in my opinion, and if we get De Jong as well then that's a bonus.

Banking on this happening and being left to fix the hole if it doesn't at the end of the window will be the worst scenario.

 

[Castia]

Might have thought you'd be right at the top of the meltdown list to be fair.

Why follow the thread if you know for sure it's not happening??

Well what do you expect? look at the deal its a farce

I cant wait to see you lot when this inevitably doesn't happen god knows how your finally going to let the news sink in.

Incredible.

 

[VanDeBank]

Okay, so the quarterly TV rights payments they get, they're pre-selling almost one quarters worth in return now for a lump sum that see's them miss out on 10% of their TV revenue for the next 25 years? I'm sure Donald Trump said something about the Iran deal that fits this situation.

The firm buying the rights for TV and merch said they hope to make €600m off both deals (€1.2b total) and Barcelona have settled for €200m now. Absolute fecking car crash.

https://theathletic.com/news/barcelona-sixth-street-tv-rights/PBONoC5Nn8yl/?amp=1

Thanks for the info. One of the research journos for VI mentioned 400 million as the minimum of what the firm is expected to earn.

 

[Keefy18]

Damn it's a Dutch thing, nah but seriously, I get what you are saying but if he does refuse to go, well they could always use the nuclear option and come out and stated his refusal will see him on the bench and not play, which then throws up a curveball so to speak given LVGs recent comments about not selecting players for the World Cup that are not getting game time, so then it would become a test for LVG and his recent if to be believed comments to Justin Timber about not coming here due to lack of game time and how it would cost him his spot and for FDJ if LVG is not just mouthing off with his normal anti UTD BS.

His spot in the World cup is untouchable.

If you look at their midfield options they are pretty awful average aside from him.

 

[hellhunter]

Whatever about Eriksen and De Jong, I could easily see us not signing another mid, with De Jong being partnered by Fred/McTominay/VDB rotating.

Yep, that's the way I see it as well. But De Jong/Eriksen will not play in a midfield two

 

[Brownie85]

Like I said last night if Barcelona REALLY wanted him out they'd have left him at Barcelona. At this point it's best for Utd to move on. Whatever obstacle we're facing seems too big for us to solve this window

I'm done on here for a while.

People seem to think they're transfer experts and that Barca should leave one of their better players out of the squad. They want Memphis out too, but he's on the plane? How do you explain that? How do you know what problems were facing? You're believing the media at face value without considering what might be going on behind the scenes. Going on tour means absolutely feck all. As was posted here before, a few of the players we've taken are VERY likely to leave, why didn't we leave them at home??

 

[the_cliff]

You’ve been presented with so much evidence that the player literally has to leave. Try and take it in.

And yet Barcelona are not acting as if the player has to leave.

Their situation and their actions don't match. Which means either it's all bullshit or Barcelona are going to look quite silly come the end of the window.

 

[acnumber9]

People still think this is a ploy for money? zero chance of this happening

Well played we've just wasted a full summer on a player who isn't going anywhere.

I didn’t realise summer ended in mid July.

 

[m1tch]

Hardball with who? We've agreed a fee.

Maybe with him? Maybe they're taking him on the tour but not intending to play him much/at all, such to show him he's not in their plans and he could stay for the money but would warm the bench. I think leaving him off the tour would communicate that more strongly mind.

Alternatively they're sending a message to United that they're happy to keep him, i.e. don't think you can wait until the last hour of the transfer window to fax through the paperwork with €5m less than previously agreed.

 

[Keefy18]

I'm certain if there was something they could do, they'd do it.

de Jong staying on the contract he's on will literally cock up the entire transfer window for them. They won't be able to register any new players, and those like Lewandowski and probably Silva too will fall through i'd imagine.
Do you think de Jong will be liked then? Unless the guy has balls of steel, i'm gessing the pressure will get to him before long

They'd be the ones in breach of contract then, which is not what they want.

It's really so incredibly stupid to hold up a deal with 85m all told for 17m.

 

[Sarni]

People still think this is a ploy for money? zero chance of this happening

Well played we've just wasted a full summer on a player who isn't going anywhere.

Which won’t be the first time anyway. At least I’m glad we were able to secure other targets and slightly improve the team but our midfield will still unfortunately be in shambles.

 

[Castia]

I didn’t realise summer ended in mid July.

May as well in this case

 

[Rolaholic]

And yet Barcelona are not acting as if the player has to leave.

Their situation and their actions don't match. Which means either it's all bullshit or Barcelona are going to look quite silly come the end of the window.

Not really when they'd end up with big money for a player they don't need amidst a summer of sexy splash signings. They'll look even less silly if the Bernardo Silva reports are true.

 

[Brownie85]

They'd be the ones in breach of contract then, which is not what they want.

It's really so incredibly stupid to hold up a deal with 85m all told for 17m.

They want the de Jong money to put into transfers. They probably can't afford the 17m straight up hence the problems. Or alternatively they don't want to pay it straight up! They're probably looking for anything in the contract that might get them out of this without paying a penny is back wages or loyalty bonuses, which is why he's saying he wants to stay, that's probably their big get out of it all card.

 

[croadyman]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the first time I've ever seen a team agree a fee for one of their players and still take the player on tour.

Looks like we're being taken for a ride.

Here's to hoping we've moved on.

Yeah was just thinking that, may as well put this thread on ignore until they return because no chance he leaves their tour

 

[TheReligion]

pretty level headed from Howson (apart from the clickbait title)

This makes sense however I would suggest it won’t be sorted out between player and Barca for a very long time.

We should move on.

People still think this is a ploy for money? zero chance of this happening

Well played we've just wasted a full summer on a player who isn't going anywhere.

Watch the above and you’ll understand the situation more accurately.

 

[Becks_VII]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the first time I've ever seen a team agree a fee for one of their players and still take the player on tour.

Looks like we're being taken for a ride.

Here's to hoping we've moved on.

Ye its strange, have seen plenty of deals where fee was agreed while they were on tour and then left to complete transfer, but this is weird.

I just find it strange we are still pursuing him with no indication from the player he would move to us. There has to to be some interest from his end.

Really hope its worth it in the end!

 

[acnumber9]

May as well in this case

We should impose transfer deadline day on ourselves rather than waiting until the end of the window. It’s all over.