Barcelona risk p***ing off Frenkie De Jong

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 7 May 2023 16:02 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona risk igniting the wrath of Frenkie de Jong by requesting he takes a salary cut to help pay for Lionel Messi’s return.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have asked De Jong to take a payout so they can balance the books and comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

But another reason is also so they can fund Lionel Messi’s astronomical salary, with Barca in talks to bring back the Argentine when his contract at PSG expires next month.

READ MORE: Ronaldo v Messi in 2022-23

De Jong is unlikely to be amused by this request, and the fallout could potentially let Man Utd back in the race for him this summer.

Man Utd bid for De Jong

Man Utd were in negotiations to sign De Jong for much of the summer of 2022.

Barcelona are understood to have accepted an €85m bid from Man Utd in July, and made it clear to that they wanted him to move to Old Trafford.

The reason for that is because Barcelona needed to raise cash by selling players and lowering their wage bill in order meet La Liga spending requirements, which they eventually did by selling off club assets and shares in their TV deals.

In the end, De Jong refused to join Man Utd and stayed at Barcelona, despite interest from Chelsea and Bayern Munich as well.

The Blaugrana also tried to force De Jong to reduce his salary if he didn’t move, which the player refused to do, with reports that Barcelona even threatened legal action.

De Jong was furious that Barcelona refused to pay him €18 million in wages he was allegedly owed after he agreed to defer them to help the club through their post-Coronavirus financial crisis.

So the news that Barcelona could again request him to take a pay cut, only to then sign more players - as was the case last summer - is unlikely to go down well.

Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag remains a big fan of a player who has played an important role in Barcelona’s imminent La Liga title success.