However, little progress has been made after 12 solid weeks of work on the deal, despite a fee being agreed with Barcelona. United have already agreed to a £72million package that includes add-ons, but De Jong has remained adamant he wants to stay in Catalonia. Now Goal report that United could turn their attention to Spaniard Ruiz, who is considered a “serious alternative” by the club. Ruiz is in the final year of his contract with Napoli and could be in for a difficult season after failing to agree a new deal. READ MORE: Manchester United manager Erik ten Haag ‘selects centre-back pairing’ for Brighton clash De Jong wants to play in Europe’s elite, which is partly why he is not interested in joining United. His first choice is to stay at Barcelona, ​​although talks of a pay cut continue. Barca need De Jong and several other high-profile players to agree to pay cuts in order to sign some of their new signings, including Robert Lewandowski, Jules Conte and Rafinha. But so far, De Jong has yet to show any desire to take a pay cut, although it could be the only way for him to stay at Camp Nou. Italian journalist and Napoli expert Ciro Venerato recently revealed that United had made a move to sign Ruiz through his agent. He told CalcioNapoli24: “Manchester United made an effort with Fabian’s environment.” Ten Haag has already outlined his desire to improve the club’s options in midfield and other areas of the pitch, stating: “We have signed [Christian] Eriksen for the midfield department, we’re really happy with that. “I’m also pleased with the performance of our midfield and forwards. “This season has a lot of games, with the World Cup, so we need more options. “We need a good team, a good team, to get the right results at the end of the season. We need to strengthen the squad even more and we are looking around, but we need the right players.”