According to information received from the Spanish newspaper El Nacional, Jim Ratcliffe hopes to rebuild Manchester United, turning it once again into a strong competitor in Europe and a team capable of fighting for all titles.
Over the past few years, the English club has already invested a huge amount of money and was able to bring in million-dollar signings, but many of them did not succeed, and the deals did not provide the performance expected of them, but they hope this summer that things will change, and that they will end their drought in major titles.
The first two goals scored by the new CEO of the “Red Devils” were players from Barcelona’s first team, and the least surprising, is Frenkie de Jong, whom they have tried to include on more than one occasion recently. The truth is that they came very close to signing him in 2022, when Joan Laporta and Matteo Alemany accepted the offer they had on the table, worth around €90 million.
But it was the 26-year-old midfielder who rejected the offer, and Xavi Hernandez did not want to lose him either. Even if Erik ten Hag’s days, their discoverer at Ajax Amsterdam, are numbered at Old Trafford, they intend to try their luck again with the Netherlands international. At the Camp Nou, they can hope to sell him, to obtain income. In addition, this season he suffered many injuries.
They have Pedri Gonzalez, Ilkay Gundogan, Pablo “Javi” and Fermin Lopez to play in that position, so Deco will be willing to negotiate.
Another player in the Blaugrana squad who is also unanimous at United, and who Ratcliffe could soon launch an attack for, is Alejandro Balde. He has undoubtedly been one of the disappointments of the current season, performing at a much lower level than he showed last year.
He lost his place in the starting lineup, and since last January he has been injured, and will not return to appearance until next year. In Barcelona they don’t consider him unsellable either.
Although Ratcliffe realizes that Barca will not offer any gifts, Laporta will not be satisfied with receiving less than 150 million euros in exchange for the departure of Balde, whose value is 60, and De Jong, whose value is 90.