How Frenkie de Jong is being played by Barcelona
Ben Jacobs
- Updated: 27 Jul 2022 07:06 BST
- 4 min read
Frenkie de Jong’s love for Barcelona is being used by the club as leverage to get the Dutchman to leave for Manchester United or take a pay cut, writes CBS reporter Ben Jacobs exclusively for FootballTransfers.
United are frustrated by the whole situation and Barcelona are absolutely having their cake and eating it.
Barcelona’s tactic is to use De Jong’s love for the club and his desire to remain to convince him to reduce his wages by saying they will either force him out the club because they need the fee or he has to sign on their terms to stay.
There is a question about the morality of whether it is right for a football club to be spending player wages on incomings, yet at the same time asking their existing employees to take these big pay cuts to offset the books.
De Jong seemingly will stay at Barcelona, and this has been a crazy saga where Joan Laporta has said that he's not for sale, yet has offered him to clubs, including Chelsea, and has agreed a fee with Manchester United.
Related articles
I think De Jong is being played by Barcelona at the moment and they are using his desire to stay, to drag this out for as long as possible and then conclude this on their terms.
They are using the health and status of the club and adding the history and the love for it from some of these players to get incredible deals.
And unfortunately, that means for any prospective suitor, this is all being done on Barcelona's terms, which means that United for now must wait and see, as do any other suitor. That is just how the football club work.
It is going to be very, very difficult for United to persuade De Jong to join and they will want clarity now as to whether he is just going to take decreased terms at Barcelona or if the door is still open.
Barcelona are utilising Xavi’s influence in their transfer plans
Xavi had a conversation where he told De Jong to take a 50% cut and the midfielder is seemingly so desperate to stay at Barcelona that he may finally cave.
De Jong is getting ever closer to agreeing to those terms but it is not entirely over because Barcelona are constantly convincing players to stay yet simultaneously looking at other options.
Xavi spoke of De Jong as having a role at centre-back and yet Jules Kounde might be about to join, and then if de Jong is to leave then Barcelona are also saying maybe they can get Bernardo Silva.
If they want the player, they'll keep the player. If they found a Bernardo Silva, somehow they'll use the fee. If they need the de Jong fee to bring in Kounde, they'll ship him off somewhere.
Barcelona have somehow found a way of getting buy-in based upon where the club is heading on the field and due to Xavi's relationship with these players, with both incomings and existing players.
On the one hand, it's not the most moral of approaches, but on the other hand, you have to give Barcelona credit because they always just find a way to get things and deals done.
Read more about: La Liga, Premier League, Barcelona, Man Utd, Bernardo Silva, Frenkie de Jong, Jules Koundé
