Barcelona are 'bullying' Man Utd target Frenkie de Jong, insists Neville
James Shearman
- Updated: 25 Jul 2022 17:30 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong is being 'bullied' by Barcelona, according to Red Devils legend Gary Neville.
The Netherlands international, who is valued at €64 million by FootballTransfers, has been embroiled in a long-running transfer saga with United for several weeks.
Indeed, some progress has been made in this regard, as a €75m fee has been agreed between the two clubs, but the deal has got no further.
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The alternative that Barcelona have given De Jong is that he takes a 50% pay cut to remain at the club, despite owing him millions in deferred wages - something which Gary Neville has taken exception to.
''De Jong should consider legal action vs Barcelona and all players should be behind him,'' he recently tweeted.
''A club spending fortunes on new players whilst not paying the ones they have under contract their full money is immoral and a breach. FIFPRO should be all over bullying like this and stop it.''
How big a pay cut will Frenkie de Jong take?
The biggest issue of the De Jong saga is the deferred wages that Barcelona owe the player.
However, the Catalans are set to double down on their demands on the former Ajax man if he is to remain at the club.
Indeed, Xavi has reportedly told the player that he will have to take a 50% pay cut if he is to remain at Camp Nou.
De Jong is the biggest earner left at Barcelona following a series of pay cuts accepted by senior members of the squad and the offloading of stars such as Philippe Coutinho, who was on a reported €22m a year. It is reported that De Jong earns around €21m per season.
I still try to figure out why de Jong must use some of his money buying Lewandowski…
— Jan Aage Fjørtoft 🏳️🌈 🇳🇴 💛💙 (@JanAageFjortoft) July 25, 2022
With a contract that runs until 2026, Barca have effectively asked the Netherlands star to forego €42m over the course of the next four years.
If his salary was to be reduced to something in the region of €10.5m, he would become a middle-ranking player in the club’s pay structure.
Of course, any new agreement could be heavily laced with bonus payments, so that if the club enjoyed success in La Liga or the Champions League, he might earn close to what he is receiving as basic pay now.
Nevertheless, it is a huge amount to ask him to put on the line.
