Barcelona worried about superstar's future at the club, believe the player is planning to leave for free: Reports
According to Diario AS, Barcelona are worried about the future of their midfielder Frenkie de Jong. Seeing his attitude on and off the pitch, the club’s hierarchy are wary that De Jong may want to leave for free.
Despite being one of the top players at Barcelona, the internal feeling at the Catalan club is that the Dutch midfielder lacks the aggression and intensity displayed by other players.
De Jong has refused to commit to Barcelona’s latest contract offer, as his contract at the club will end in 2026. Many believe it is a ploy by him to leave the club on a bossman transfer.
Since moving from Ajax in 2019, De Jong's time at the Catalan club has been marked by inconsistent performances. Things got worse for him in the 2023-24 season as he couldn’t feature in a lot of games due to injury. He played 30 games.
In the ongoing season, the 27-year-old has played nine matches while being named in the starting XI only twice. Even though the former Ajax man is yet to make an impact at the Catalan club, manager Hansi Flick has reportedly said the player is part of his plans.
The German manager has claimed that the Dutchman has the perfect ability to fit into his style of play. Flick remains confident that De Jong will return to his best, as the former has managed to improve the performances of all the players in the squad.
In De Jong’s five-year stay at Barcelona, he has scored 17 goals and provided 21 assists in 222 appearances across competitions.
“I knew I would have less playing time’’ – When Frenkie de Jong spoke about his game time at Barcelona
In 2022, Frenkie de Jong said he knew his playing minutes at Barca were going to get diminished. The Dutch midfielder made the statement when Xavi Hernandez was the manager.
At the time, De Jong was reportedly linked with an exit from Barcelona, but he remained explicit about his decision to stay at the club whenever he was asked about it. He told Ziggo Sport:
“I knew I would have less playing time. I have to make sure I start from scratch. I didn’t start against Bayern and I want to start against Real Madrid. I feel good physically. I have to work hard to start at the Bernabeu."
“Maybe [Xavi’s] already decided [his team], we don’t usually know until the day of the game. Of course we are disappointed after the game against Inter but we have to change our state of mind. cheer up and focus on the Clasico. We have to show that we are still a good team," he added.
