Man Utd admit defeat in De Jong chase with transfer business all but completed

• £85m Antony deal expected to conclude business
• Acceptance De Jong will not join this summer
• Dubravka arriving on loan from Newcastle

WHAT'S HAPPENING? United have heavily backed Erik ten Hag's planned squad overhaul - providing the Dutchman with more funds in a single window than any previous manager in the club's history - with Antony set to become the latest big-money arrival from Ajax. However, they couldn't convince De Jong to swap Barcelona for Old Trafford - despite agreeing a fee with the Catalan giants.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: While the addition of Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Antony and Dubravka represents a major injection of talent, there are still key areas of the squad in need of address, such as right back and centre forward, while De Jong was always Ten Hag's priority.

AND WHAT'S MORE: United are prepared to reignite their interest in the Netherlands international in future windows - but the anticipation is that there will be no further arrivals beyond Dubravka before the transfer window shuts on Thursday.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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DID YOU KNOW? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer oversaw United's previous biggest spend in the summer of 2019 with an outlay of £153m ($179m), including the world record £80m ($94m) fee for a defender on Harry Maguire.

THE VERDICT: It has been an imperfect window for United - not least because they waited so long to get their business done, which had a major impact on their disastrous start to the season. But Ten Hag has been backed heavily - in particular with the signing of Antony, who is the second most expensive player in the club's history after £89m ($104m) Paul Pogba.

WHAT NEXT FOR UNITED? Ten Hag is set to field a number of his new signings once again when United take in a trip to Leicester City on September 1, three days before Arsenal are due at Old Trafford for a huge Premier League clash.