Barcelona aim to END Man Utd and Arsenal transfer interest for in-demand STAR

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Barcelona are set to offer a contract renewal to one of their biggest stars to ward off interest from the Premier League.

Frenkie de Jong's contract runs out in the summer of 2026, and Ferran Correas has reported in Sport that Barcelona have sent a new renewal offer to the Dutchman.

The Dutch midfielder has long been a transfer target for Arsenal, and the Blaugrana are clearly keen to tie him up to a long-term deal to ward off interest from the Gunners as well as many other clubs who have an interest in the Dutchman.

Whether De Jong accepts or not will decide who has the leverage in this summer transfer window. If he does renew, then Barcelona will have secured the Dutchman's future.

READ MORE: Erik ten Hag nears agreement with new club and DEMANDS De Jong transfer

If Frenkie chooses not to renew, however, then with just one year left on his contract he would be able to force Barcelona's hand into selling him this summer, where he would surely have his pick of Europe's top clubs.

After starting the season injured with an ankle injury he picked up last campaign, De Jong has worked hard to get back to full fitness. At first he was restricted to cameos off the bench as Marc Casado had cemented himself in that starting role.

But lately, as his ankle has gotten stronger and the burst has returned to his play, he has managed to get back into the first-choice starting XI alongside Pedri.

His performances have gone from middling to magisterial, with the Dutch flexing some of the old muscles that made him such a hot prospect back in his Ajax days.

Frenkie de Jong's contract chaos

De Jong's time at Barcelona hasn't always gone as smoothly as he would have liked, with financial turbulance complicating the relationship between him and the fans.

During the waning days of Josep Bartomeu's reign as president, he sought to avoid punishment for leaving the club with debt by renewing the contracts of four players (including De Jong) in order to drastically reduce the wage bill at the time.

He did that by backloading the contracts so that the last few years would see the wages increase enormously, which is what has happened to Frenkie de Jong.

Under Joan Laporta's leadership, Barcelona were trying to reduce their wage bill and so sought to sell De Jong. But De Jong didn't want to go. But the fans wanted him to go so that the club would be free of this financial burden.

It got so bad that pundits on social media were accusing Barcelona of doing criminal activity and, when Man Utd were strongly linked to sign Frenkie, Gary Neville genuinely suggested the Dutchman take Barcelona to court because they were withholding wages (which, for the record, they were not doing).

De Jong should consider legal action v Barcelona and all players should be behind him!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.

— Gary Neville (@GNev2) July 25, 2022

It was a gigantic mess, but one thing that remained throughout was De Jong's desire to stay in Barcelona, the club and city he and his partner Mikky Kiemeney have always dreamed of living in.

And with his performances improving on the field, a new contract containing none of the bloat that his Bartomeu one does, could see Frenkie De Jong stay at Barcelona for the forseeable future.