Barcelona continue to play games with €75m star; public stance unfounded

Barcelona Football Club is continuing to play games with Frenkie de Jong over his long-term future in Catalonia. Publicly, club officials stated that they have no plans to sell the Dutch midfielder, but continue to seek suitors privately, according to sources close to the player.

The former Eredivisie star joined the Catalan giants in a €75 million deal on July 1, 2019, with Barcelona reaching an agreement with Ajax in January that year. De Jong has failed to recapture the form that he showed for the Eredivisie club thus far, which saw him become dispensable last summer.

Barcelona made a sustained effort to offload him during last summer's transfer window. The La Liga giants had even agreed a €70 million fee with Manchester United, but De Jong made it clear that he will not leave the Camp Nou for Old Trafford.

The Dutchman has a contract with Barcelona until 2026, and has no intention of leaving the club in the near future. The Spanish outfit is riddled with debt and is desperately trying to cut its wage bill to meet the league's financial fair play rules.

De Jong remains one of the highest earners at the club and his reluctance to take a pay cut saw them try to offload him. However, he won the battle in the summer and remained a part of Xavi's first-team, and has now established himself as a key member of the squad.

Xavi remains a big admirer of the midfielder, and now club president Joan Laporta has indicated that they have no intention of letting him leave. He said: "I've never wanted to sell Frenkie de Jong. He has to be a pillar of the team."

However, a source close to the player, as per The Athletic, has indicated that Barcelona will again attempt to sell the midfielder when the January transfer window gets underway. United remain the front runners for the moment, but other suitors could emerge if he decides to leave the Catalan club.

However, as per Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, his stance remains at status quo. De Jong has no intention of leaving Barcelona in the foreseeable future, and is keen to establish himself as a regular in the starting XI. Xavi is said to be eyeing him as a successor to veteran Sergio Busquets.