Frenkie de Jong has had a renewal offer on the table for a while and still hasn’t responded.
The future of Frenkie de Jong at Barça remains uncertain. The Dutch midfielder could have left the club in the summer of 2022 but resisted pressure from the previous sporting director, Mateu Alemany, who even threatened to take legal action against the player’s contract.
Two years later, his situation has resurfaced. De Jong is under contract with Barça until June 30, 2026, and is the highest-paid player at the club, factoring in both his salary and the amounts deferred during the coronavirus pandemic under an agreement with former club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.
According to Ferran Correas from SPORT, in recent days it has emerged that the Barça sporting direction, now led by Deco, intends to extend the midfielder’s contract. However, this extension may not come with a financial improvement; rather, the club, which values the player, sees it as necessary to adjust salaries to continue reducing the first-team wage bill.
Ferran Correas also confirms that Barça made an initial renewal offer to the player’s agent, Ali Dursun, last October, to which the player has not yet responded.
The club explains that they wish to continue counting on De Jong, whom they consider an important player and essential to current coach Xavi Hernández, but they admit they would be open to a sale if the Dutch midfielder, who rejected a lucrative offer from Manchester United in 2022, decides not to renew his contract. The player, who has not responded to the first renewal offer from the Barça sporting direction, prefers to wait.
He intends to stay at Barça but perhaps not under the conditions offered by the club. He remains calm because he still has more than two years left on his contract and knows he holds his future in his hands. He stood firm when the club wanted him to accept Manchester United’s offer, although, at that time, he received assistance from President Joan Laporta. He also prefers to wait to learn the name of the coach who will sit on the Barça bench next season and their plans for him.
That situation caused frustration for Frenkie de Jong and his agent with the club, especially with the previous sporting direction. It remains to be seen how negotiations between both parties will progress now.
