By Melody Gross 
Signed with pomp and circumstance from Ajax, Frenkie de Jong in 2019 has quickly established himself as one of the mainstays of Barcelona’s renewed midfield. However, the 25-year-old midfielder is under intense pressure to leave Camp Nou this summer.
Regarded as one of the club’s greatest assets, President Juan Laporta intends to add a lucrative sale that will allow him to sign up for reinforcements already set and balance a few accounts. All this goes against the wishes of the Netherlands international, who has now received an ultimatum.
according to sports, Barcelona officials made it clear to the athlete that they are unable to pay the annual salary of 22 million euros agreed in the player’s contract (signed so far under Josep Maria Bartomeu). As such, the only chance is for the player to accept half that amount or else he will have to go elsewhere, coveted by Manchester United and Chelsea, both from England.
An unwelcome situation for a player who has already agreed during the Covid-19 pandemic to cut part of his salary to mitigate the effects, and who still expects to recover this money from the club. Moreover, the club’s agents do not accept this request after the club squandered 140 million euros during the transfer market.
With the two sides steadfast in their discussions, a tense situation arose calling into question the player’s participation in the match with Rayo Vallecano (Saturday, 8 pm), which marks the beginning of the Spanish League. This is considering that De Jong is one of 17 players Barcelona has registered for the tournament and, as such, is available to Xavi Hernández.