Frenkie de Jong returned from Australia with the transferable poster hanging. More transferable than ever, it would be said, warning of the desperate situation of Barça’s economic blockade, which today cannot even register players. The Dutchman knows the club’s plan, which is to sell it. Barça sells the player, like the media, that they only want to get rid of him if there is a great offer, but the truth is that the decision has already been made and the Barça club will sell him as long as De Jong gives the go-ahead. In the last few hours, Joan Laporta and Xavi have confirmed this idea, procrastinating on their situation. “It depends on the economy”, they have agreed to say, although in the case of the coach, he has come to confess in intimate circles that, if Carlos Soler comes and De Jong’s departure opens salary margin for new signings, it would be considered satisfied.
De Jong is not comfortable with the situation. It is hard for him to assimilate the idea of leaving a club that he has admired since he was a child and to which he arrived with the idea of succeeding resoundingly. Three years later, however, he has become an ‘economic object’ for Barça, although it is also true that except for very specific moments he has not become the franchise footballer that was expected.
After playing with the Netherlands in the Nations League, De Jong will calmly study the scenario so as not to make any false steps.. If he does not leave, he can block the arrival of players to Barça because he would free up an important salary space (he earns more than ten million euros net), but he is aware that he cannot make a mistake in his decision and that the club he chooses has to pay him better and offer him a better sports project than Barça. The city…, that is going to be difficult and, surely, what De Jong, happily installed in Catalonia, may miss the most. That’s why he doesn’t want to be uprooted from here. With a contract until 2026, Manchester United and Bayern have been interested in him. In recent days, Manchester City have also joined the list, that he needs midfielders before the goodbye of Fernandinho and the last great moments of Gundogan; in addition to the end of Bernardo Silva’s contract in 2023; and PSG. The summer could also be long for De Jong, who currently has an appointment on July 4 to return to training with Barça.