‘Last thing he would want’ – Barcelona president gives blunt response to Frenkie de Jong transfer question
Barcelona president Joan Laporta is confident that Frenkie de Jong is ‘delighted’ at the club and does not want to leave despite past links with a move to Manchester United.
The Spanish club have been stuck in a financial rut, needing to cut their wage bill in order to meet the £174.8m salary cap placed on them by La Liga. This will likely require the sale of playing staff in the summer, as their actual wage bill has been budgeted at well over double that amount.
One of those linked with an exit to ease the problem has been De Jong. It was suggested he would be a top target for Erik ten Hag when the coach arrived at Old Trafford in 2022, and circumstance means that two years later a reunion for the former Ajax duo is once again speculated upon.
However in what is a major blow to that train of thought, Laporta is adamant that his midfielder is settled in Catalonia, and therefore a move to Manchester United would be out of the equation.
“The last thing he would want would be to leave Barcelona. He has told me more than once, that he is delighted here,” the 61-year-old confirmed to Mundo Deportivo. “We have margin. We are delighted with him. I’m not worried about anyone and if someone wants to leave, we can’t go against a player’s will.
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“But I think everyone wants to stay and we want everyone we have to stay. We don’t want any of them to leave, because no team in history has been a flash in the pan.
“The teams that have won have had a period of consolidation and maturation. This team is having it with very young people and will pass us by with the previous stage. We have players who will last many years, all of these we are talking about. We have to prioritise making the entire team powerful.”
This message falls in line with his colleague, Barca’s sporting director Deco, who in February said the Dutchman would be staying put. “Nothing will happen to them,” he said about De Jong and team-mate Ronald Araujo. “They are important players for now and for the future. They have earned the right to be here and the respect of the fans and everyone. We know where we want to go and we are counting on them.”
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