Barcelona are trapped on De Jong
Manchester United have sent a delegation including chief executive Richard Arnold and director of football John Murtu to Barcelona to negotiate a deal for De Jong directly, reports The Athletic. On July 14th, both sides found a common voice. Accordingly, the Red Devils agreed to pay Barcelona $75 million and pay a surcharge of $10 million according to the midfielder's contribution to the new jersey.
Barcelona then asked De Jong to join Manchester United. Kicking the Dutch midfielder out of the Nou Camp will help Barca free up between $300,000 and $35 million in salary, according to World Sports News. That's why coach Xavi accepted to let De Jong go, although he really wanted to keep the midfielder because of his professional qualities.
De Jong's sale will help Barca register two rookies, Frank Casey, Andreas Christensen and Sergi Roberto-the midfielder has just extended his contract until 2023. However, Barca were unable to register Ousmane Dembele and Rafinha. Dembele is counted as Barcelona's rookie and needs to be re-registered because the French striker only signed his contract two years after his old contract expired.
The fact that Barcelona still owes the Dutch midfielder nearly 20 million yuan in salary is also a big obstacle. In addition, De Rong is not satisfied with Barcelona's attitude. Since the start of the summer, chairman Joan Laporta has repeatedly stated he will not sell the 25-year-old midfielder for any price.
Mundo Deportivo have said Barca will ask De Jong for a pay cut if he does not agree to a move to Man Utd. But the former Ajax midfielder is likely to continue to reject the proposal.
Even if De Jong is persuaded to leave, Barca will still have to trim the squad to register Dembele, Rafinha and recruit more rookies like Robert Lewandowski or Cesar Azpilicueta.
In the summer of 2021, Barcelona experienced a similar situation. They can only register Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia before the start of the La Liga season in 2021-2022 after Gerard Pique reduced his income. In January 2022, the Camp Nou boss went on to ask Samuel Umtiti for a pay cut to register rookie Ferran Torres.
In the summer of 2019, De Jong joined Barcelona from Ajax for $78 million, scored 13 goals in 140 games and won the championship-the Spanish King's Cup in 2020-2021. The 25-year-old midfielder is a top target for Ten Hargreaves to rebuild Manchester United. De Jong, who played for Shihag in Ajax, was the mainstay to help the club win the Dutch League and Dutch Cup double in 2018-2019 and the Champions League semi-final.
