Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong was, for as long as Erik ten Hag was manager at Old Trafford, the ultimate dream signing for Manchester United.
Ten Hag was Ajax’s man when Barcelona made the biggest financial blunder in modern times when they signed him in 2019 for €86 million and gave him Europe’s highest wage. – That salary is an important reason why there are big problems with signing up Dani Olmo to play in La Liga.
The salary including what are called fixed bonuses (strange solution really when everything is salary) of 23.5 million euros is a gigantic problem for resale. Now that Britain’s richest Sir Jim Ratcliffe is saving money and Ten Hag is back home in the Netherlands, it is completely out of the question for Manchester United to buy.
Frenkie de Jong’s agent understands what needs to be done, if not, there will be a pay cut. AS writes today that the midfielder’s agent has started consulting Saudi Arabian clubs about a possible transfer. And then it doesn’t matter that he has lost “that little extra” he had for a while.
Barcelona, on the other hand, are interested in extending de Jong’s contract, which expires in 2026, but it will be greatly reduced wages. They also write that the club does not want to keep the 27-year-old if he does not renew his contract this summer.
The reason why his agent turned to Saudi is precisely because of the salary, where the clubs in the Saudi Pro League are among the only ones who could offer the midfielder a similarly high salary.
It remains to be seen where the Dutchman will go in the future. This year, he has scored one goal and one assist in 13 games.
