Frenkie De Jong transfer to Manchester United held up by £17m deferred wage debt

Manchester United’s protracted pursuit of Frenkie de Jong is being held up by money owed to the Netherlands midfielder by Barcelona in wages he agreed to defer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite Barcelona president Joan Laporta’s claims that De Jong is not for sale, United reached a broad agreement with the Catalan club last week over a fee for the Dutchman that would see them pay an initial €65 million (£55m) with around a further €20m (£17m) payable in add-ons.

However, United’s hopes of wrapping up a deal in time for De Jong to join the start of their summer tour have been complicated by deferred wages and bonuses the player is owed from Barcelona after he agreed to take a temporary pay cut to help ease the club’s financial difficulties during the Covid crisis.

De Jong joined Barcelona from Ajax on a five-year contract in 2019 on a fixed annual salary worth £12m but he agreed to reduce his salary by £9.4m in 2020/21 and by £4.3m last season meaning he is owed £13.7m in basic wages.

He is also believed to be owed another £3.4m in waived bonuses for playing in at least 60 per cent of Barcelona’s matches over the previous two seasons.

De Jong extended his contract at the Nou Camp by a further two years to 2026, which allowed Barcelona to spread the deferred payments over a longer period.

But De Jong’s prospective move to Old Trafford means Barcelona face the prospect of having to foot a bill in excess of £17m in wages owed to the player and has left new United manager Erik ten Hag facing an agonising wait to land his priority summer transfer target.

United are due to fly to Bangkok on Friday afternoon for the start of their pre-season tour but Tyrell Malacia, the Netherlands left back signed from Feyenoord for an