Barcelona President coy on Frenkie de Jong rumours

Originally posted on Caught Offside | By Ruairidh Barlow | Last updated 5/17/22

The financial situation at Barcelona has been the cause of much trouble at Barcelona and the latest problem to have arisen is Frenkie de Jong. With Erik ten Hag installing himself at Manchester United and keen to bring in a player of confidence, de Jong represents the perfect candidate. Barcelona’s problem is that they aren’t sure they can say no.

Manager Xavi Hernandez has maintained that de Jong is a key player for him, but with the financial problems putting a squeeze on their ability to reconfigure the squad, many have wondered whether the sale of the de Jong might allow them more flexibility.

Asked about the matter, President Joan Laporta was even less definitive with is response.

“We will do what is best for the club. If the economic levers that we want to activate come off, no player will leave for economic reasons,” he told Sport, in a story carried by Football Espana.

“I insist. Let the sports management work. There are players who are quoted to have received offers. In the sports area, Xavi and Mateu Alemany rule and he ends up deciding the club’s sports management. I will follow what the professionals of the club say.”

The likelihood is that Barcelona are waiting to see what other deals go ahead and where they can strengthen on the cheap.

For Manchester United, de Jong makes sense as a midfield signing. Coming into his prime years, de Jong is a player that works for the collective and would be working under a manager that has shown himself capable of extracting the best out of him. At Barcelona, a number of factors have inhibited from being consistently impressive, not the least the positional presence of Sergio Busquets, which has prevented de Jong from playing in some of the spaces he would prefer to.

This article first appeared on Caught Offside and was syndicated with permission.

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