Frenkie de Jong ‘treated like a piece of meat’
FT Desk
- 18 Aug 2022 17:45 BST
- 2 min read
Former Barcelona star Gary Lineker has hit out at the Catalans for their treatment of Frenkie de Jong.
De Jong has found himself under intense pressure at Camp Nou this summer.
The midfielder is keen to stay at Barca despite transfer interest from Manchester United and Chelsea, but has found himself in the middle of an ugly contract conflict sparked by the club.
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Barcelona want him to either leave or reduce his current salary, even threatening legal action to cancel the deal he signed during the coronavirus pandemic.
And Lineker believes he has been treated poorly by the management at Camp Nou.
'Treated like a piece of meat'
"I feel for Frenkie a bit," Lineker told reporters.
"He’s been treated a bit like a piece of meat in the whole thing for circumstances totally out of his control.
"He’s a gifted young player and it’s very important for him he doesn’t go somewhere he doesn’t want to go. He has the playing cards in his hand in that sense. He will have to be quite strong. It is so weird.
"Barcelona seemingly want him but something has to give and it just seems a shame for it to end up like this."
De Jong joined Barca in 2019 after shining as a youngster with Ajax.
He has made 141 appearances to date with the club, scoring 13 goals, but started the new season on the bench last weekend as Xavi's new-look starting XI was held 0-0 by Rayo.
