Manchester United Confident Barcelona Will Lower Frenkie De Jong Asking Price Ahead Of Second Bid

Erik ten Hag's Manchester United are confident that Barcelona will lower the asking price for Frenkie de Jong ahead of their second bid for the midfielder, according to reports

There has been a lot of discourse around Barcelona seemingly not wanting to sell Frenkie de Jong anymore given the authorisation they've recently received to activate the much talked about 'economic levers'.

However, as Helena Condis reported, they still plan to go ahead with the sale of the player.

And after a bit of a lull, There are concrete numbers regarding potential negotiations coming out on the part of the reliable English media.

This is seemingly the major obstacle to a deal happening right now, given it's widely been reliably reported that the player is now open to the idea of a move to United.

According to James Ducker of Telegraph Sport, Manchester United are hopeful of striking a deal for the midfielder - despite the fact that the clubs are seemingly around €20 million apart in their valuations.

Barcelona paid a guaranteed sum of €75m along with €11m in add-ons to buy Frenkie from Ajax, and according to the aforementioned report, they want to recoup at least that €86m they had committed. United, on the other hand, are said to value the deal closer to €65m.

Frenkie de Jong in action for FC Barcelona

The report also mentions that United are aware of the fact that they are the only club seriously in for De Jong. The player's wages have also been mentioned as a problem for Barcelona.

In addition, it is mentioned that De Jong is the player the club want to bring in first, given the important role Erik ten Hag envisages him playing.

Another player United have been concretely interested in is Christian Eriksen. United had made an offer for the player as per David Ornstein, and Chris Wheeler and Simon Jones of Mail Sport had mentioned that he would be a signing United would look to pursue in addition to Frenkie de Jong. James Ducker seems to have doubled down on that stance too in this report.

Christian Eriksen playing against West Ham United

Apparently, the most detailed training ground work the new manager is planning will be done on the second leg of United's pre-season tour in Australia when they'll have a full squad available - they are due to arrive in Melbourne on July 13.

Jamie Jackson of Guardian Sport reported a slightly different version of events, however.

It would be pertinent to mention that according to information from Fabrizio Romano, while writing for Guardian Sport, United already have had a €60m fixed plus €10m add-ons deal rejected by Barcelona. 

In the latest version of events, it is stated by Jackson that United may make a second bid of around €70m as a guaranteed amount along with add-ons for the player.

It also mentions that United are conscious of the fact that Barcelona will almost certainly be forced to sell the player in turn to further strengthen their squad.

Putting one plus one together from both the aforementioned reports given they're both coming from reliable sources - if Barcelona's stance is getting a total amount of €86m for the player, and if United do make a bid of around €70m + add-ons, the subsequent gap between the valuation of the clubs could potentially turn out to be much lower than the €20m headline figure being reported as of now.

Frenkie de Jong in Netherlands colours

One would think that would make negotiations a little easier and an agreement much more feasible than they would seem to be otherwise. 

Jackson also provided an update on a centre-back target United had been pursuing. Jurriën Timber was a player Erik ten Hag wanted to sign, but he's now reported to be staying at Ajax. This came in the backdrop of United being informed that the player wanted guaranteed first-team football to secure his Netherlands place for the World Cup later this year.

The report goes on to mention that Erik ten Hag is keen to ensure that his first-choice central defensive pairing of Harry Maguire and Raphaël Varane have a better campaign than they did last time around. He's also said to be content with the prospect of Victor Lindelöf competing with both of them.

However, it's stated that the manager could still move to add to the personnel in this area of the pitch if one or more of Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe or Phil Jones leave the club - not to mention that United are ready to listen to offers for all three.