The Frenkie de Jong saga is getting more bizarre by the minute.
It’s common knowledge that Barca have been trying desperately to lower their wage bill over the past few months.
Frenkie de Jong is reportedly the squad’s biggest earner with 18 million Euros per year.
While there are many takers for the Dutchman, there is only one problem.
Frenkie doesn’t want to leave.
In this context, we’ve heard that Barcelona has threatened against Frenkie over the last contract he had signed back in 2020!
As per reports, Catalan giants wrote to Frenkie on July 15 “claiming to have found evidence of criminal actions on behalf of the parties who signed his renewal on October 20, 2020.”
Apparently, the Barca board feel confident about building a successful criminal case against the previous regime – which can also implicate Frenkie and his team.
Frenkie has every right to feel aggrieved.
After all, he had agreed to a two-year extension until 2026 that reduced his salary for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
This was done to help reduce Barcelona’s financial troubles, leaving €18m in deferred payments to be spread across the subsequent four campaigns.
This development raises fresh doubts whether the Catalan club are in a position to even pay the deferred wages!
This tactic is exactly what Evgeniy Levchenko, chairman of the Dutch players’ union had warned against.
He had indicated that Frenkie might be a victim of “extortion”.
Even FIFPRO, the global players’ union is closely monitoring the situation – which is not a good sign for Barca.
Interestingly, members of the Josep Bartomeu camp have insisted that that there are no legal loopholes in the contract.
Despite all this, current president Laporta has said, “Frenkie is a Barça player, of great quality and we want him to stay.”
“With him and his teammates we have a very powerful midfield. He has offers but we want him to stay and he wants to stay.”
Only time will tell who is telling the truth!