Barcelona hasn’t exactly been known for its sparkling work in the transfer market in recent seasons.
As the the team’s on-field performances have suffered, the club has found itself in a financial mess of its own making, fueled by expensive and unnecessary transfers like Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann. The nadir came last summer when a tearful Lionel Messi was forced to leave the club he loved because it simply couldn’t afford him.
Now Barcelona has created a new problem through its treatment of another hugely expensive signing in its recent past, Frenkie de Jong.
Barcelona has been active in the transfer market this summer, signing Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen on free transfers, renewing Ousmane Dembélé’s contract, forking out €58 million on Raphinha and continuing to pursue Robert Lewandowski.
Even with the sale of Coutinho to Aston Villa and the loan of Clément Lenglet to Tottenham, Barcelona still has plenty of financial space that it needs to clear.
And that’s where De Jong comes in. The Dutch midfielder has been earmarked as the financial sacrifice that needs to be made for a club that it still deeply in debt.
This week it’s been reported that Barcelona and Manchester United have agreed upon a €85 million deal to send the Dutch international to Old Trafford to play for his former coach at Ajax, Erik ten Hag.
There seems to be a small problem though: De Jong doesn’t want to leave.
A report in Sport this week states that De Jong has told his teammates it’s “impossible” for him to go. Earlier this summer, he told ESPN: “I prefer to stay with Barcelona. Barcelona is just my dream club.”
Seems to be a geographical split on whether De Jong wants to join #mufc but I understand he’s still committed to Barça, despite ploys to convince him otherwise. It is not just a wage issue for him. Remember he took pay cut & delayed his salary to help Barça. He just wants to stay
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) July 14, 2022
This all presents a challenge to Barcelona. How can it afford the players it has already signed, and intends to sign, if De Jong stays?
Well, it probably can’t. Kessié and Christensen haven’t even been registered to play yet as the club waits for the other shoe to drop. Now it seems like Barcelona is being forced to play hardball with De Jong. And it could get ugly.
The Athletic has reported that Barcelona has asked De Jong to leave. Now, the club’s sporting director has resorted to publicly calling on the midfielder to take one for the team and pack his bags.
Barcelona director Mateu Alemany on de Jong deal: “Frenkie is a very important player and we count on him. But we know La Liga's Fair Play tells us to sell players”. 🚨🇳🇱 #FCB
“I can’t say more [on Frenkie deal and Man Utd]”, Alemany added. pic.twitter.com/UGKjwhAnbL
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 15, 2022
All of this begs a question: Who would want to play for a team like this? The club has been so busy chasing the next shiny object that it’s done things like forcing its captains to take multiple pay cuts, unceremoniously trying to force a talented and perfectly content star player out the door, and, oh yeah, losing the greatest player of all time for nothing.
Barcelona will always have a certain appeal among players. It is, after all, Barcelona. But as its treatment of De Jong has shown, what good is being a player’s dream club if you’re willing to make their stay feel like a nightmare?
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