Fabrizio Romano: Bernardo-esque Man United target has had 'direct contact' with Erik ten Hag

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has shared some crucial information regarding Manchester United‘s pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong in an interview with GiveMeSport.

The Red Devils’ new manager Erik ten Hag has made a deal for the 25-year-old his top priority, according to The Athletic.

De Jong was part of Ten Hag’s Ajax side which came within a whisker of reaching the 2019 Champions League final, having beaten Real Madrid and Juventus in the knockout stage. That team also won the Eredivisie, with the Netherlands international subsequently earning a move to Barcelona.

United believe that Barcelona’s ‘cashflow issues’ will make the sale of the Dutchman a necessity, but the Spanish giants are still holding out for a fee of around €80m, which equates to roughly £68.6m.

De Jong recently admitted that he was ‘flattered’ by links with the Premier League giants but insisted that he was content to continue playing for what he called ‘the biggest club in the world’.

While De Jong knows that Ten Hag is ‘pushing’ for his signing after holding ‘direct contact’ with his former boss, Romano says that the player is currently passive.

The journalist told GiveMeSport: “At the moment, the player has given no indication to anyone, he’s just waiting to see what happens with Manchester United and Barcelona.

“Frenkie knows that Ten Hag is pushing, and he had some direct contact with Erik ten Hag two weeks ago. So, he has no doubts on the interest from Manchester United, he knows about it, but he hasn’t decided on anything, he’s waiting on the clubs to decide.”

De Jong would be a blockbuster signing to begin the Ten Hag era at Manchester United.

Just look at the 25-year-old’s list of individual accomplishments: Eredivisie Player of