It is believed that the Red Devils have been in talks with the La Liga giants over a move for the Dutchman and National Daily gathered from the reports making the rounds the Old Trafford club have had their opening bid of around £52m turned down by the Catalans.
There are suggestions that the former Ajax midfielder is happy at the Camp Nou and he told reporters last night that though he’s ‘flattered’ by interest from United, he is already at the ‘biggest club in the world’.
Meanwhile, it is almost certain that United’s chase for De Jong has been ambitious without Champions Leagues offer, but the Red Devils would have been counting on their chance to exploit Barcelona’s unsafe financial situation to land the 25-year-old midfielder.
But there is a twist to the transfer process as Eduard Romeu says the club are in no position to have to sell and says any departing players will be sold on sporting grounds.
‘At the end of the season we don’t have any revenue from player sales,’ said Romeu.
‘Any hasty decision in this area will be a purely technical decision.’