Manchester United cannot afford to fall victim to same Frenkie de Jong trap this summer

Frenkie de Jong couldn't wipe the smile from his face after Barcelona won their first La Liga title in four years last weekend.

The Barcelona team immediately took to the streets to celebrate and De Jong spoke to Barca TV, only to be interrupted by a jovial Ronald Araujo, who shouted down the camera and described his teammate as 'the best midfielder in the world'.

Barcelona had comfortably defeated Espanyol to win the title just hours before and De Jong provided a stunning assist, delivering a beautifully weighted ball over the opposition to put the chance on a plate, for his side's third goal.

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Araujo might have been exaggerating with his 'best midfielder in the world' comment but it's an assessment Erik ten Hag doesn't seem too far from agreeing with, as he chased De Jong all last summer for the start of his Manchester United rebuild.

De Jong was the priority target last year but his signature was elusive. There were positive talks with Barcelona, a trip to Catalonia for John Murtough and Richard Arnold and finally a fee of €85million was agreed, along with personal terms.

Although De Jong publicly pledged his commitment to Barcelona last year, he privately informed Erik ten Hag he would be prepared to join United and the only stumbling block proved to be the player's wage deferral from the pandemic.

As part of De Jong's contract renewal in 2020, which extended his stay until 2026, the player agreed to take a pay cut to help the club out during the pandemic, on the proviso he would then earn that money back over the next couple of seasons.

That meant if he'd left Barcelona last summer, he would still in theory be owed the money he is entitled to. That