Barça's ultimatum to Frenkie de Jong: either accept a pay cut to stay or he must leave

The start of the league is already upon us and the case of Frenkie de Jong has to be solved soon. Barça are pressing the Dutch player to make a decision imminently as they need to free up the wage bill before the league starts and thus register all of their signings. The Blaugrana club like the player and woud be happy with him in the squad, but he must lower his salary to continue. Otherwise, they ask him to make up his mind between Manchester United and Chelsea to finalize negotiations for a permanent move.

Barça has talked a lot with De Jong in recent weeks, with the pressure peaking in the last few days. The Catalan club need an immediate decision because there is little to no time left for the registration of their new players. His current wages takes the total wage bill beyond the regulated allocation for the club, mainly due to his deferred salary due from the pandemic period being paid now. De Jong has always wanted to stay but has the dilemma of doing so at the cost of loqwering the wages that he signed for and also losing what is owed to him. If he accepts, Xavi will be delighted to have him and he will be in contention to start, but if he does not, the club want to sell him and thus save on his salary. For now, the player and his entourage have been listening to both Chelsea and Manchester United but no progress has been made.

Time is of the essence and at the moment all possibilities are open. The president, Joan Laporta, has made clear to the player the sporting esteem they have for him and is optimistic about the possibility that the Dutchman will sacrifice a portion of his pay. De Jong is very comfortable in Barcelona and is excited about the new project under Xavi. His entourage does not think the same because they do not want the player to lose the salary he signed for. The decision may be imminent and, above all, Chelsea is pushing hard to close the deal in the coming days.

Barça have set his price tag at 80 million euros. Both Chelsea and Manchester United are willing to match this.