De Jong responds to Barcelona’s claim his contract his illegal
Suraj Radia
- 9 Aug 2022 10:40 CDT
- 3 min read
Frenkie de Jong is believed to be upset at Barcelona's claims that the midfielder could be legally implicated in his ongoing contractual dispute with the club.
De Jong signed a new contract in 2020 under the previous regime at Barca, however the club are now insisting the contract was illegal and that he must revert to the terms of his previous deal on lower wages.
However, representatives for De Jong believe it is not his fault that the club are having financial issues and want Barca to take responsibility for the contract they agreed on.
De Jong's camp have firmly denied any criminality in the deal and have been left disappointed by Barcelona's conduct, in particular with sporting advisor Jordi Cruyff.
His entourage are also understood to be confused at how the deal passed through audits and La Liga regulation checks if it truly was illegal.
The strong response indicates that the situation may continue to drag on until a compromise is reached, despite Barcelona pushing for De Jong to leave or take a pay cut.
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Barcelona hoping for De Jong exit with legal threats
Barcelona have spent more than €150m on the likes of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde but have been told by La Liga that they cannot register their new signings until they have lowered their wage bill.
The Catalans see De Jong as the solution to their problems and want him to leave the club, with a €85m deal already in place with Manchester United, but the Dutchman is refusing to budge until he is paid the money he is owed.
Barcelona wrote to De Jong on July 15 to tell him that they 'found evidence of criminal actions on behalf of the parties who signed his renewal' in October 2020
🚨 The contract extensions of Piqué, Lenglet, Ter Stegen and De Jong have resulted in Barcelona owing an additional €311M. 🤯💰
The club are studying the possibility of taking the case to court and will try to make the players renounce the contracts.
(Source: @sport) pic.twitter.com/Ro2dtFWYdl— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 9, 2022
De Jong is believed to have been paid just €9m in the past two seasons in order to help Barcelona curb their financial issues and he is set to earn €20m this year and €25m next year to compensate.
However, Barcelona have opted to threaten legal action in the hopes that De Jong leaves the club or foregoes his deferred wages, as well as sign a new deal with a pay cut.
Barca have already lined up Manchester City's Bernardo Silva as a replacement for De Jong and will be hoping their threats help push the Dutchman to the exit door.
