Man Utd to withdraw offer to De Jong and re-negotiate from scratch

Manchester United have decided to take a step back with Frenkie de Jong in a bid to breath life back into their attempt to sign the Dutchman.

According to the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf, the English side have withdrawn the offer they made to the midfielder and want to start to negotiate from zero again after failing to reach an agreement with him previously.

United are convinced they can close a deal for De Jong. It's all in the air though because the player has not given signs he wants to leave Barça, while Chelsea are also in the race for his signature.

The cited media insist that United are still alive as well but that they believe the best way forward is to restart negotiations from scratch.

The English team have been trying to sign De Jong all summer and all their planning until this point has resolved around landing him from Barca, who they agreed an €85 million fee with.

It is likely that United will also rethink the offer made to Barça as well, though. It is evident that the offer to the player will have to be increased to exceed the salary De Jong should receive this season and that may cause the figures they had planned to pay Barça to be lowered somewhat.

De Jong returns to training on Tuesday and has not yet spoken to Barça despite pressure to lower his salary.