ERIK WANTS TO STAY IN DUTCH
Holland stars set to join Ten Hag’s Reds rebuild
MANCHESTER UNITED have gone double Dutch by having bids accepted for Frenkie de Jong and Tyrell Malacia.
The Holland duo are poised to become part of Erik ten Hag’s rebuild at Old Trafford.
United have agreed an initial fee of £56million with Barcelona for midfielder de Jong, rising to a potential £70m with add-ons.
The Reds are also closing in on Feyenoord left-back Malacia after outbidding Lyon with an offer of £13m, increasing to £15m with add-ons.
Feyenoord sporting director Frank Arnesen said: “The agreement with Manchester United is there. We’re now waiting for Tyrell.
“If he says yes, a transfer to United is imminent.”
De Jong is set to sign after weeks of talks.
He will earn around £250,000 a week in what is expected to be a five-year contract.
United hope the deal will be done in time for him to join their tour of Thailand and Australia. They fly to Bangkok a week on Friday. Having lost two central midfielders in Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic this summer, there was an urgency to strengthen in that area of the pitch.
Ten Hag worked with de Jong at Ajax and made him his No.1 transfer target when he accepted the job at United.
Barcelona paid Ajax £75m for de Jong in 2019 but serious financial problems at the Catalan club mean they are forced to sell if they want to strengthen their squad.
Free agent Christian Eriksen is another option in midfield although also has an offer from Brentford, where he spent the second half of last season.
Manager Ten Hag favours reinforcements affiliated with Ajax or Dutch football and United have not vetoed any of his suggested targets.
Club sources claim all players of serious interest have been thoroughly scouted.
United were open to reinforcing at full-back and were spurred into striking a deal for Malacia, who is represented by the same agency as de Jong, amid Lyon’s interest. He is set to provide competition for Luke Shaw.
United’s return to pre-season training and Ten Hag’s presence at Carrington are believed to have sped up transfer activity as the departure date for the pre-season tour looms.
United travel to Bangkok on July 8 and Ten Hag wants to have signings on board to integrate into his squad. Malacia started in 32 of Feyenoord’s Eredivisie matches last season and all but two of their Europa Conference League ties, including the defeat to Roma in the showpiece in Tirana.
Malacia made his international debut under Louis van Gaal in September and started in both Nations League wins over Wales earlier this month.
United had already planned on offloading full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Brandon Williams.
However, now the arrival of Malacia leaves Alex Telles vulnerable at the club.