Frenkie de Jong is not for sale – Barcelona president

De Jong made 47 appearances for Barcelona last season
De Jong made 47 appearances for Barcelona last season

Barcelona have claimed that Frenkie de Jong is not for sale – even though Manchester United have a broad agreement in place to sign the midfielder.

Last week, United agreed a 65m euro (£56m) fee, plus add-ons, with Barca for the Netherlands international and that deal remains active.

But Barca president Joan Laporta said: “[De Jong] is a Barca player and unless we have a need or interest in selling him, we don’t want to sell him.”

De Jong joined from Ajax in 2019 for a fee of £65m plus £9.5m in variables, and signed a five-year contract. However, Barcelona may now need to sell high-earning players to balance the books.

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BBC Sport understands an outline deal is in place with Premier League side United but progress towards completion has been slow.

A move to the Red Devils would reunite De Jong with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, who is taking charge in his first season at Old Trafford.

Laporta added: “We know he [De Jong] has offers. If at some moment we were interested, we would consider it, but right now, we’re not selling the player.”