The Chief Executive Officer of Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold in a meeting with some aggrieved Manchester United fans in a pub in Cheshire disclosed that Erik Ten Hag wants to sign Frenkie De Jong this summer.
Erik Ten Hag worked with Frenkie De Jing at Ajax before the Dutch international joined Barcelona in 2019. Frenkie De Jong was part of the Ajax team that reached the semi-final of the Champions League in 2018.
Barcelona, who need to sell players to balance their books this summer, had already rejected the first bid submitted by Manchester United and now expect Manchester United to improve their offer.
The Catalan giants are believed to have placed a price tag of £85 million on the Dutch midfielder.
What did Richard Arnold say regarding the Frenkie De Jong transfer?
The Manchester CEO said in leaked tape circulating on Twitter: “Money is not a consideration on who we want. The manager wants him (De Jong) and they have done the work. He’s a great player,” he added.
“Is it 100 or 200 [million]? I don’t know. Get who you f*cking want. Do you want me to buy the players? Does that not ring a bell?”
Richard Arnold also criticized Manchester United’s transfer policy over the period claiming Manchester United has spent £1 billion in the transfer market with nothing to show.
He added: “We spent a billion pounds on players. We have spent more than anyone in Europe.
“I’m not thrilled where we are. It doesn’t sit easily with me and I worry about how we get this sorted for the future. What’s happened is we have f*cking burned through cash.
“You can’t go to our training ground and say ‘show me where the £1 billion is because we haven’t spent money well historically. I’m not here to defend (chairman) Joel (Glazer). He must speak for himself.
“But you have taken the time to come here and make your views known – and I respect that. We’ve blown through an enormous amount of money.
“For this summer, the money manager and director of football (John Murtough) want to be there. For the future, for investing in a new stadium and a latest-and-greatest training ground we’ve got to do something. We’ve got to get investors in.
“I need that to do what I want for the club. I’ve got to have more cash now because no club in the world has the money to build a new stadium. You either borrow it or invest it. The money has got to come from somewhere.
“You might not like our current owners – I can’t help that. But if you want someone else to come in they will see that the fans love the team and that is positive.
“But last year was a f***ing nightmare. There was hate at every game.”
