TRANSFER: BARCA BLAME LALIGA FOR HARSH DE JONG VALUE IN MARKET

June 21, 2022

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Barcelona have blamed their harsh negotiating attitude on Frenkie de Jong during trade negotiations with Manchester United to La Liga’s strict financial rules.

United are desperate to sign De Jong this summer, while Barcelona would prefer to let him go in order to raise funds for their own transfer business ahead of next season.

Old Trafford bosses are demanding that the amount reflects Barcelona’s desire to offload the player, but insiders have stated that the Spanish giants have insisted that La Liga has limited their hands.

They already have financial restrictions as a result of exceeding their salary limit, and can only reinvest a third of the money they make on transfers or save in wages back into the playing squad.

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Barcelona is leveraging the issue to raise the price above the £73 million they paid Ajax for De Jong in 2019.

United, on the other hand, would prefer to spend between £50m and £60m on a base price, and is aware that agreeing to a substantially larger figure would hinder efforts to invest on other areas of the squad. Sources also confirmed that the club is working with a net spend budget of between £100m – £150m.