The club feels De Jong’s salary is too high and suggests extending his contract with a pay cut.
While publicly, at Barça, they say the idea is not to sell any key players, the truth is that privately many voices suggest the club may need to part ways with some marketable players to reinforce and reshape the squad for the upcoming season. Attention, in this regard, is focused on Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong. The former, due to the enticing offers coming from Munich, although the Uruguayan center-back’s preference remains to stay at Barça, a club where he feels very comfortable.
The latter, because he was already on the verge of leaving in the summer of 2022. According to Ferran Correas of SPORT, it was during the leveraged summer when Barça needed income to make signings, that the previous sporting management led by Mateu Alemany pushed De Jong to leave. A tempting offer from Manchester United for the Dutchman was even on the table, one that Barça was willing to accept. However, the player refused to move from Barcelona despite even being threatened with legal action regarding the contract signed by Josep Maria Bartomeu during the pandemic, a circumstance that angered both the player and his agent.
President Joan Laporta eventually intervened and closed the matter, but not resolved it, as the main issue remained De Jong’s salary, which hindered the attempt to reduce the first-team wage bill. And it seems the problem may resurface this summer.
The current situation is that De Jong, including his salary and what was deferred when Bartomeu renewed his contract until 2026, is the highest-paid player per season at the club, a fact that both the sporting management and the board want to rectify. Xavi counts on the player, who is an undisputed starter in his team, and wants to offer him a contract extension. According to ‘Jijantes,’ the offer has already been made. The club’s idea is to offer the Dutchman more years on his contract and more stability in exchange for a reduction in his current salary. The player, who is very comfortable in Barcelona and at the club, will have to consider the offer and decide, knowing that just as he withstood the pressure in 2022, he could do so now, as he still has two more years on his contract.
However, if he does not accept to continue under conditions that benefit both parties, the club will once again look for a sale of the player at a good price. This would help reduce the wage bill, and the player would also become a lever to enter the market with more guarantees. De Jong has not yet commented on his future when asked, but some reports in recent weeks have suggested that this time he may be open to a change of scenery, depending, of course, on the project defined by Barça for the upcoming season.
