MANCHESTER UNITED 2022 SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW UPDATE - Manchester United & Barcelona Continue Frenkie de Jong Debacle. & Manchester United Board continue search for midfield solutions
The positive side of Manchester United's current lackluster transfer window so far is that, as of early August 2022, Manchester United is simply not done with the clubs’ transfer business with the Red Devils understood to be in contact with clubs such as Barcelona and Wolverhampton as a result of Manchester United's widely known interest in acquiring the services of Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong and Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves.
As is widely known, the situation at Manchester United paints the reality that the current pursuit of Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong is now understood to be a situation that can now be categorized as more or less of an obsession of Manchester United courtesy of the strong request made by current Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag.
What's understood from the point of early July 2022 up until this mid-week period of August 2022 is that Manchester United has placed its focus on acquiring an extra central midfielder to inject quality into Manchester United's lackluster midfield area.
However, the understood narrative around the Manchester United football club has continued to be that one if not the only midfielder that Manchester United intends to acquire this 2022 summer transfer window is understood to include non-other than Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
With just three weeks to go until the end of the 2022 summer transfer window, the current situation at Manchester United quite clearly remains that Manchester United is solely focused on acquiring the services of Frenkie de Jong for an agreed fee with Barcelona of £86 million.
At the moment, there is the understanding that Manchester United is simply not working on acquiring any other midfielder.
Although the Manchester United board is understood to have shown a massive interest in securing the services of Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves This 2022 summer transfer window.
However, Manchester United is understood to have come to a dead end as Wolves have revealed that Portuguese Talisman Reuben Neves Is currently tide down to Wolverhampton on a rigid long-term contract set to run until 2025. That understanding clarifies that the current buyout fees placed on the Portuguese midfielder are estimated to be is staggering £60 million
The 60 million price tag placed on Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves is understood to be a prize that is not necessarily out of reach from Manchester United and as a result, the Portuguese midfielder continues to be considered a likely candidate to be acquired as part of the much-needed improvement of Manchester United’s central midfield.
However, with Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves currently tied for a long-term contract with Wolverhampton set to last until 2024, what's understood of this situation between Manchester United and Wolverhampton reveals that, as a result of the long-term contract only held by Ruben Neves at Wolves and as a result of Wolverhampton current standpoint which is that Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves serves as a vital piece at the core of the progression taking place at Wolverhampton, the possibility of Manchester United taking Ruben Neves away from Molineux stadium is understood to be a task which is beyond the capability of Manchester United at the moment.
Furthermore, with Arsenal already understood to be in advanced talks with the hierarchy of Wolverhampton regarding the acquisition of the Portuguese midfielder, Manchester United's chances of securing Ruben Neves this 2022 summer transfer window is simply understood to be too little for the Red Devils to continue any further pursuit of the Portuguese midfielder services
In Frenkie de Jong’s case, the situation between the three parties concerned- Manchester United Barcelona, and Frenke de Jong- continues to be a rather static one as the Dutch midfielder continues to express his strong desire to remain at Barcelona in the upcoming future.
As is known, Manchester United and Barcelona already have a concrete deal which states Barcelona has sanctioned the move from Barcelona to Manchester United for the Dutch midfielder this 2022 summer transfer window at €86 million. A fee which is understood to be paid by Manchester United in the sequence of possible €60 million paid directly with the remaining €26 million to be paid in installments over the next one or two years
This means that Manchester United presumably has a clear path to complete Manchester United's current task of taking Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong away from Barcelona to Manchester United this 2022 summer transfer window without any obstruction from the ownership of FC Barcelona.
While there continue to be suggestions that the ownership of FC Barcelona has had a change of mind in regards to the Frenkie de Jong deal as a result of Barcelona's recent successful adventure of securing extra funds to balance the finances of the football club, there is yet to be any concrete evidence that the upper management of FC Barcelona is ready to obstruct the agreed terms set between Manchester United and Barcelona which will allow Manchester United secure the services of Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong this 2022 summer transfer window.
In fact, the situation is quite the opposite between Manchester United and Barcelona. While Barcelona has successfully secured extra funds needed by the Spanish club to balance the budget of Barcelona football club, Barcelona is understood to be a club that still needs to clear enough players within its roster to create space for reserve capital in Barcelona’s financial record book to allow the Spanish club to register the services of the high-profile signings which Barcelona has already acquired this 2022 summer transfer window.
Names such as Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kunde, and Bernardo Silva to name a few continue to wait on the outside ready to be officially registered as new players who have joined the Barcelona football club.
As of this week, Barcelona is understood to have registered a good portion of the new acquisitions attended by the Spanish giants during this 2022 summer transfer window.
(Transfer window topics and various Manchester United-related topics to be continued in the following article coming up. in the next couple of days)