Frenkie de Jong considers legal action against Barcelona over salary 'extortion'

FT Desk

• Updated: 10 Aug 2022 22:16 BST
• 3 min read

Frenkie de Jong is planning to fight back against Barcelona's bid to lower his salary at the club via legal action.

Barca allegedly contend that the Dutchman's contract was illegally put together by Joan Laporta's predecessor as president Josep Bartomeu, and are planning to go to court in order to reduce his wages.

As a result of that 'criminal action', the club are reported to have informed De Jong that they wish to annul that deal and go back to the original contract put in place prior to renewal in 2020.

According to Mundo Deportivo, De Jong is not amused by the Blaugrana's tactics at a time when the Catalans are looking to dispense with his services, with Manchester United and Chelsea both linked to the midfielder.

De Jong wants to stay at the club, but under the terms of his current contract, and rejects Barca's contention that the agreement is illicit.

He is reported to believe that the recent developments amount to a campaign of defamation and extortion against him and has instructed his legal team to carefully look over the steps the club has taken to pressure him, while also reaching out to the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) union, FIFPro and La Liga, which has already rubberstamped all the contracts signed by the Bartomeu administration during the pandemic in 2020.

As well as De Jong, Gerard Pique, Marc Andre ter Stegen and Clement Lenglet have also seen the validity of their renewals come under question.

'A boomerang effect'

While sports law expert Toni Roca stopped short of calling Barcelona's request extorsion, he warned that the club was treading a very fine line by throwing doubt on the contracts.

"It is hard for Barcelona to take this case to court because the process would take years and by the time it is all resolved the players may no longer form part of the club," the CEO of the Sports Law Institute told Mundo Deportivo.

"It is more like a negotiation weapon with the risk of setting off a boomerang effect, because taking this process to the courts could cause harm to your reputation. There is also the threat that unions like AFE or FIFPro denounce the club's actions.

"The players, as I understand it, have not committed any crime, because they were only asked to help the club at a critical time with a wage decrease that included the logical demand of an upside in exchange, either through more years under contract or better salaries in later years.

"Up to now De Jong hasn't lost a single euro in his contract, nor has he suffered a deterioration of his standing as a worker, been discriminated against or taken out of first-team training or the US tour. I don't think we're looking at extorsion, but rather a simple negotiation that Barca are pushing to the limit."