The Red Devils have been chasing De Jong for most of the summer and are yet to finalise his transfer. That has been a source of frustration for new manager Erik ten Hag, who is eager to rebuild his newly-inherited squad.

They do, finally, appear to have made the breakthrough, however. That’s after a report on Sunday claimed a deal with Barcelona has finally been struck and a date for his arrival potentially revealed.

United will pay something close to £73.8m for the star, who Barcelona were seemingly unwilling to negotiate on.

However, as per reports, the Catalan giants were looking to take Harry Maguire to the Nou Camp as a makeweight.

The Manchester United skipper has endured a frustrating 2021/22 season, coming in for some stinging criticism.

But that did not deter Barca, who reportedly asked for Maguire in part-exchange for De Jong.

However, United were not willing to part with their £80m defender. He seemingly has the backing of Ten Hag and will play a key role under the Dutchman this season.

And that news will come as a big boost to the 29-year-old England centre-half.

For United, though, it means they had to work that bit harder to negotiate the signing of De Jong. However, with an agreement now seemingly in place, United soon hope for good news.