De Jong's response to Manchester United... and Barça's ultimatum to the player

On Wednesday, Ali Dursun, Frenkie de Jong's agent, met with Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold and John Murtough, the English club's director of soccer, to reject for the umpteenth time their bid for the Dutch midfielder's transfer to the Premier League. At a seafront hotel in Barcelona, the English club's delegates met yesterday afternoon with the player's agent with the idea of unravelling the transfer deal but were met with an unpleasant surprise that may put an end to a soap opera that began ten weeks ago, since Ten Haag landed on the bench of the English city to take charge of the club.

Ali Dursun, De Jong's agent, conveyed the midfielder's resolute intention to remain closed to the English offer. SPORT already revealed last weekend the reasons why he was not willing to wear the red and maintains this position although the two clubs are already in full agreement on the transfer figures. Frenkie de Jong wants nothing to do with the pressure being exerted from within the club for him to accept a change of scenery. And even the media campaign that he is being subjected to make him leave the Camp Nou. Perhaps he would see differently if some other possibility or offer presents itself to him (which we will explain later), but he flatly refuses to move into the Old Trafford club.

So, Ali Dursun, following the instructions of his client, asked the United delegates to stop insisting and to stop wasting their time because De Jong's position was clear: He is not going to United. This is the idea he conveyed to the English club's representatives, whose efforts at persuasions have come to nought in the face of the player's stance. They have not been able to find any means to convince De Jong to buy into their plans, whom they had hoped would play a big role in the effort to revive the PL club's fortunes. As we said, there are several reasons for his refusal to leave but the most prominent is his and his wife's attachment to Barcelona, and the relatively lesser sporting interest generated by both the Premier League and Manchester United.

The Spanish club, meanwhile, insists on the need for him to leave the club shortly and even United set a deadline for this operation to materialize. However, according to the outcome of yesterday's meeting in Barcelona, the soap opera is nearing its end due to the clear intention of De Jong to close the door on this transfer. De Jong does not refuse to leave Barcelona but is firm in his refusal to go to Manchester United.

Thus, everything indicates that the bid from United will be left unsuccessful, which complicates life for Barcelona, who were hoping to seal a transfer deal for the player, which would have allowed them to make a final move on the recruitment of Lewandowski immediately after. The club would have had fresh money to submit a final offer to the Bavarian club to get the Polish striker. Finally, it should be noted that throughout this process there have been rumours of De Jong's desire to break off relations with Ali Dursum, but according to sources close to the player, that has been ruled out.