Barcelona have claimed that Frenkie de Jong is not for sale – even though Manchester United have a broad agreement in place to sign the midfielder.
Last week, United agreed a 65m euro (£56m) fee, plus add-ons, with Barca for the Netherlands international and that deal remains active.
But Barca president Joan Laporta said: “[De Jong] is a Barca player and unless we have a need or interest in selling him, we don’t want to sell him.”
De Jong joined from Ajax in 2019 for a fee of £65m plus £9.5m in variables, and signed a five-year contract. However, Barcelona may now need to sell high-earning players to balance the books.
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BBC Sport understands an outline deal is in place with Premier League side United but progress towards completion has been slow.
A move to the Red Devils would reunite De Jong with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, who is taking charge in his first season at Old Trafford.
Laporta added: “We know he [De Jong] has offers. If at some moment we were interested, we would consider it, but right now, we’re not selling the player.”