Frenkie de Jong’s potential move to Manchester United is ‘still being negotiated’, with the two clubs still working on the finances involved.
That’s according to Marca, who say the move is being pushed by Barcelona because of ‘economic’ issues at the Camp Nou.
They explain that Barcelona would have to pay the Dutchman €88.58m between his salary and loyalty bonuses for the remaining four years of his contract were he to remain.
A further €8m could be added to that if he plays 60% of the games in that period and a maximum of €12.8m if they were to reach the Champions League final.
It is because of these numbers that Barcelona are pushing for him to leave as the leadership at the club consider his wages ‘out of the salary scale’ that they want to establish.
While Joan Laporta is saying publicly that he is doing everything possible to keep De Jong, the reality is that he would happily sell, particularly with Manchester United ‘willing to pay’ €65m plus another €20m in variables. Those numbers are, however, being negotiated.
The issue with De Jong’s wages has partly been caused by the pandemic as Barcelona reduced wages across the board that year to save money.
The Dutchman then followed that up by extending his stay by two seasons, but that included deferred payments, having given up €16m in the previous years. They are now set to be paid over the four years on his deal, but Barcelona want to avoid that.
