Romano confirms Barcelona to sell De Jong despite 'total nonsense' claim

Tom Weber

Updated: 29 Dec 2024 10:30 GMT
3 min read

Barcelona will be open to Frenkie de Jong offers in 2025 despite his agent's claim that exit talk is 'total nonsense,' according to Fabrizio Romano.

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The Dutchman continues to divide fans and media alike in Catalunya. De Jong, thought to be the biggest earner in LaLiga, has rarely lived up to the billing and his frequent injury problems have only made matters worse.

His apathetic performances this season have infuriated Barcelona supporters and a fair few have begun calling on the club to take action. The Blaugrana are still not blessed with particular affluence and offloading De Jong would save the club a lot of money.

Amid all of this turmoil, the reality is that Barcelona have actually been in preliminary talks with De Jong over a contract extension, but his renewal is far less of a priority than that of Gavi or Pedri.

Before proceeding to more substantial negotiations, Barcelona want to see De Jong back to his best, but the fact that he has so far failed to perform, means that there have been increasing rumours of a departure.

Romano reveals De Jong truth

Speculation surrounding a potential move to Saudi Arabia recently surfaced, to which De Jong's agent Ali Dursun responded emphatically. "Total nonsense," he thundered in an interview with De Telegraaf.

"It distracts from Frenkie's real ambition. He only wants one thing: to be fit to shine longer at the club he loves and where he feels at home." However, despite Dursun's insistence, it seems that talk of a potential exit isn't far-fetched at all.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has already guaranteed that Barcelona will not head into 2025/26 with any players who could be free agents at the end of that campaign and Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that De Jong could leave next year if fresh terms aren't agreed.

"I don't think he is going to be one of the big names for January unless an important proposal arrives. For the summer, it could be different because if Barcelona and De Jong can't agree on a contract extension in the next months, the possibility of De Jong being available on the market in the summer transfer window could be concrete."

"Also because Barca are investing their money in a new contract of Gavi, new contract of Pedri, new contract of Lamine Yamal, Jonathan Tah as a free transfer is a top priority (not done yet but Barca advancing well)," Romano said on his YouTube channel.