The Barcelona board has come under fire from Frenkie de Jong for allegedly leaking information about his contract over the summer.
In the midst of rumours that the player’s contract was invalid and that the Catalan giants would make him accept a wage cut, De Jong’s contract details surfaced during the summer.
The news was released as Manchester United made progress in trying to sign the midfielder, but no deal materialised. The midfielder was trained by United manager Erik ten Hag in Amsterdam, and this summer, the two spoke over the phone to persuade the youngster to join his team at Old Trafford.
A fee of around £56.2 million was already agreed upon between the two sides. However, the Dutch midfielder chose to stay at Camp Nou despite having reportedly already cleaned out his locker in Spain. The Catalan sports media suggested that De Jong was unwilling to accept a pay cut in order to help the club in managing other deals. Barcelona tried desperately to either sell the Dutch international or lower his pay, but neither effort was effective.
The former Ajax star has now revealed that the board tried to force him to move but he always wanted to stay at Barcelona for many more years. As reported by the Telegraaf, he said:
“I am very happy in Barcelona. When I play it’s great and in terms of living here life is perfect. I see myself in Barcelona for as long as possible. I personally hope for another eight or 10 years.”
“One day a paper published details from my contract. I didn’t leak it and only one other party knew about this, so it had to be the club who did this. Suddenly there was a letter in which the question was asked whether my contract was still valid because the previous president made the contract.”
“I found it very annoying that the club did this, but I had no further influence on things. I blame these people [those at Barca who wanted him out], but I have nothing to do with them. Yes, they are Barca for me because they lead the club. But I don’t see them when I’m at the club. I have nothing to do with them in my daily life.”
De Jong, who is now playing for the Netherlands ahead of the World Cup, has now dismissed rumours that he may soon leave Camp Nou. In 2019, he made the initial switch from Ajax to Barca, and he sees Catalonia as his long-term destination.
United have moved on from the midfielder after signing former Real Madrid star Casemiro this summer. The Brazilian star has played well for the Red Devils and it is highly unlikely that the club will pursue any possible deal for De Jong in the future.
