NOS Football•today, 00:50
—
“What Barcelona is doing to Frenkie is incomprehensible, this club is completely off track”
—
Frenkie de Jong faces a diabolical dilemma. Should he stay at Barcelona, where a reserve role threatens but where he still owes many millions in deferred salary? Or should he choose eggs for his money and move to Manchester United?
–
The analysts of Studio Voetbal agree on one thing in any case. “What Barcelona is doing to Frenkie is incomprehensible,” says Arno Vermeulen. “This club is completely off track, with chairman Joan Laporta at the forefront.”
–
–
Barcelona was still struggling with a debt of 1.4 billion euros a year ago. “Yet they are spending 150 million on transfer fees this summer and they themselves only sell 28 million to players. So a lot of money has to be added again and that is why they want to get rid of Frenkie,” explains Vermeulen.
–
The Dutch midfielder is still very popular with the supporters. On Sunday evening at the last exhibition game of FC Barcelona against the Mexican Pumas (6-0 win), all players were introduced one by one. The public reacted enthusiastically when De Jong entered the field in Camp Nou.
–
De Jong came in at the start of the second half. Barcelona was already leading 4-0 at that time, thanks in part to a goal and two assists from acquisition Robert Lewandowski.
–
De Jong started his substitution in exasperation and wanted to show himself clearly. He led Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 5-0 in and crossed the entire field moments later with the ball at his feet. In the final phase, the midfielder determined the final score at 6-0. He captured the ball in the half of Pumas and completed it himself.
–
‘They sell the club to the devil’
According to Vermeulen, Laporta is putting the future of Barcelona at risk by taking an advance on future income and already spending a lot of money now. “They’ve brought in 700 million. How do they do that? They’re selling the club to the devil.”
–