How Frenkie De Jong is blocking Lewandowski’s transfer to Barcelona

Suraj Radia

• 12 Jul 2022 16:55 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona’s move for Robert Lewandowski could be held up until they agree a deal to sell Frenkie De Jong to Manchester United.

The Spanish side have been tiptoeing around financial regulations in order to fund their ambitious transfer plans and finalising the sale of De Jong could be the key to a flurry of transfer activity for Barca.

Bayern Munich are refusing to budge on their €50 million asking price for Lewandowski and are believed to want the money all up front due to concerns over Barca’s ability to meet future payments.

United, meanwhile, are thought to have finally agreed a fee of around €85m for De Jong but the deal is complicated due to Barca owing the Dutchman more than €20m in deferred wages.

However, a deal for De Jong is thought to be edging closer and once the sale is confirmed, the transfer of Lewandowski could imminently follow.

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Barcelona: Big talkers with a small wallet

Much has been made over Barcelona’s transfer plans, with the club publicly declaring interest in a host of players despite seemingly being unable to afford any of them.

The club have been operating with a host of ‘economic levers’ including the sale of a portion of their merchandising department as well as some of their future TV revenue.

Once the second ‘lever’ has been activated, the priority is to accelerate the deal for Lewandowski as well as push towards signing Raphinha from Leeds.

Leeds had already agreed to sell Raphinha to Chelsea however the 25-year-old was desperate to join Barca and, after much delay, they have made an offer of around €68m.

Personal terms for both Raphinha and Lewandowski have been in place for a number of months and it is believed the deals could rapidly progress once Barca can afford them.

However, the key to all these deals could be the sale of De Jong, although the former Ajax man is reluctant to leave and also unwilling to take a pay cut to stay at Camp Nou.

With selling clubs growing impatient over Barca’s conduct, the Catalans may end up needing to resolve the issue with De Jong in order to get their crucial transfers over the line.