Barca could sell underwhelming De Jong to fund Haaland move

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 5 Feb 2022 06:49 CST
• 3 min read

Frenkie de Jong has struggled to live up to expectations since his €75 million transfer from Ajax in the summer of 2019.

Prior to that move, the Dutchman emerged as one of the most exciting young midfielders in the world through his exploits with Ajax. He was part of the side that won the Eredivisie in 2019 and in that same season, he was key in the club reaching the semi-final of the Champions League.

When Barcelona made their interest known, the club and De Jong seemed like a match made in heaven.

But both Barcelona and De Jong have arguably not serviced each other to the best of their abilities.

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The Blaugrana are going through one of the most tumultuous periods in their history. With debts currently standing at well over €1 billion, they lost Lionel Messi in the summer and have been forced to curb their spending significantly.

De Jong, meanwhile, is yet to find his feet at Camp Nou, failing to find his exact role so far under three separate head coaches - Ernesto Valverde, Ronald Koeman and now Xavi.

He has enjoyed fleeting moments of brilliance due to his talent, but he is yet to usurp Sergio Busquets, rightly or wrongly, as Barcelona's main man in midfield.

Off the pitch, De Jong hasn't been totally happy either has he spoke of his regret that Koeman was sacked as he held a positive relationship with his fellow Dutchman. After the appointment of Xavi, a mentor and friend of Busquets, De Jong's stature fell a bit more.

"The club's struggles have surprised me sometimes, but I still think the same about Barca,” De Jong told NOS.

“It is not the best club at this moment, but it is still the most beautiful club in the world.”

De Jong is still viewed as a key member of the first-team squad, but the emergence of youngsters Gavi, Nico and Pedri mean that he is perhaps not as crucial as he might have been.

With that in mind, Barcelona, according to Goal, would be open to the idea of selling De Jong in the summer.

Why would Barcelona sell De Jong?

In the January transfer window, Barcelona were desperate for attacking reinforcements and got them in the form of Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traore.

However, Xavi is still in the market for a world-class centre-forward and would ideally like to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

The Norwegian is one of the hottest properties in world football and is set to leave Dortmund this summer, with every single elite club linked with a play for his services over the past year.

It was previously thought that Barcelona would not be involved in any transfer battle due to their financial situation, but if they can recoup the €75m they got for De Jong, that is the exact amount it would take to sign Haaland due to his release clause.

If it comes to a direct decision for Barcelona - sell De Jong to guarantee signing Haaland, then it will be a no brainer for the Catalan giants.