Barcelona president Juan Laporta will be forced to sell Frenkie de Jong to cover for losses as Manchester United intensify its interest in the Dutch midfielder.
The Blaugrana’s poor run of games in the Champions League this term has pushed them to the brink of an early exit, and it is rumoured that they will sell midfielder de Jong to make up for the losses of not reaching the Round of 16 clashes.
With two games remaining, the Spanish club are now third in their group, three points behind Inter Milan in second place. They are most likely to be demoted to the Europa League, which will result in a significant decrease in funding.
As a result, according to The Express, Barca may consider selling De Jong in order to raise money for the team. The club might lose Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, and Sergio Busquets as well, but they won’t generate any revenue. Busquets’ contract ends next summer, while that of Alba, Pique, and Busquets expires in 2014.
In the summer, De Jong came very close to signing for Manchester United. The Red Devils and Barcelona reportedly reached an agreement on a cost of £72 million. The Dutch midfielder, though, made the choice to remain at Camp Nou and never looked back.
Since then, Gavi and Pedri have been favoured over him and he has started just four games across all competitions. United manager Erik ten Hag coached De Jong while they were present at Ajax. It appears like they might meet up again the following summer.
This summer, Barcelona spent £132 million on players, including Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha. However, if they are eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage, they will need to offset the financial loss, and the sale of De Jong might be able to help.
The Dutchman has played 150 games for Barca since 2019, tallying 14 goals and 18 assists. United fans have a big reason to be happy since they will finally be able to get their hands on their most-wanted target at the desired price.
