Barcelona president Joan Laporta insists the club ‘don’t want to sell’ midfielder Frenkie de Jong, despite interest from Manchester United.
United are reported to have agreed an initial fee of €65m with Barcelona for the 25-year-old, though discussions over add-ons are continuing and the player has not held talks over personal terms with the Premier League side.
De Jong’s preference is to remain at the Camp Nou, though the Dutchman is unlikely to accept a reduced salary as Barcelona look to ease their financial issues and fund transfer business.
United have so far been frustrated in their attempts to agree a deal before the club fly out for their pre-season tour on Friday and Barcelona president Laporta has now insisted that De Jong won’t be sold unless the Catalans receive an offer that interests the club.
“De Jong is a Barcelona player and we, unless we need to, don’t want to sell him,” Laporta said at the presentation of Franck Kessie on Wednesday.
“We know he has offers. If at anytime one of them interested us, we would sell him. But right now we’re not going to.”
