Erik ten Hag has reportedly told the Manchester United hierarchy they have to complete the signing of Frenkie de Jong by the end of the week.
Should they fail, the new Red Devils boss will drop his long-standing interest in the Barcelona midfielder as he does not want the transfer saga continuing throughout the summer.
It has been known for some time that De Jong is Ten Hag’s No.1 transfer target after the pair worked so well together at Ajax, but a deal for the 25-year-old is proving tricky as while Barcelona are willing to sell to remedy their financial woes, they are looking to receive a fee of around £70million, far more than United are willing to offer.
Matters have been further complicated by the player’s desire to stay at the Nou Camp, and the Mirror now reports that Ten Hag is willing to end his pursuit of his former protegee.
The manager wants as many new players as possible at Old Trafford before their pre-season tour of Asia and Australia that kicks off in July.
The club’s bosses are also keen to avoid another protracted transfer saga after the well-documented failure of David Moyes’ only summer in charge of United in 2013.
Back then, United looked certain to sign Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara, now of Liverpool, but Moyes and then club CEO Ed Woodward stalled on completing the deal, with the Spaniard eventually moving to Bayern Munich and achieving much success there.
Moyes was then promised that a deal could be done for fellow Barcelona playmaker Cesc Fabregas and waited until the final days of the transfer window before realising that it was never going to happen.
Eventually, United panicked and paid over the odds for Marouane Fellaini from Moyes’ former club Everton, a transfer that has gone down as one of the worst in Premier League history.
Should they miss out on De Jong, Ten Hag does have a list of other players in the same position that he wants to sign, and the club have been linked with a variety of other midfielders including Leeds’ Kalvin Phillips and free agents Corentin Tolisso and Christian Eriksen.
MORE : Erik ten Hag angry as ‘dithering’ Manchester United miss out on £64m Darwin Nunez transfer
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