Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong on Bayern Munich’s radar
The Dutch midfielder has yet to live up to the hype at Barcelona.
Barcelona beat out the likes of Manchester City, PSG and Bayern Munich in their efforts to sign Frenkie de Jong from Ajax . His time at the Camp Nou, however, may already be coming to an end.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Bayern Munich, one of the clubs the Catalans managed to beat out, have set their sights on the 23-year-old midfielder. The Bavarian side wanted De Jong back in 2018 along with his former teammate, Matthijs de Ligt.
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They may have lost out on both of them on that occasion but now believe they could land De Jong. The report claims Barcelona’s financial position may force them into having to sell a star player to ease that burden.
Given his age, De Jong would be an interesting option for a number of clubs across Europe. With how well they seem to be run, Bayern would also be one of the few who could afford him despite the economic hit the majority of clubs have taken because of the pandemic.
The timing is somewhat strange as one of the last acts of former president Josep Maria Bartomeu was to extend the contract of a number of players with De Jong being among them.
His new contract saw his release clause rise to €400 million. Bayern are not going to pay the full clause and would likely try to negotiate with Barcelona on a reasonable fee.
Bayern Munich, who already loved Frenkie de Jong in 2019, are once again interested in signing the Dutch midfielder. Barça are aware that Ali Dursun, De Jong's agent, is in contract with the German side. [md] pic.twitter.com/iiIfDnmLXr
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 9, 2020
De Jong has yet to reach the level he displayed with Ajax at Barcelona. He’s on his second season with the club and he’s been average at best. The constant turnover in managers certainly has not helped his adaptation. Neither has the disjointedness in the squad.
One of Ronald Koeman’s objectives, when he took over, was to play De Jong in his natural position to try to get the best out of him. He went to a 4-2-3-1 with De Jong in a double pivot with minimal results.
If Barcelona do decide to sell De Jong, it likely won’t happen until the summer. It is near impossible for it to happen in the winter as the new president and board would be implemented with only a week to spare in the transfer window. If a new manager takes over, he might have De Jong in his plans.
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De Jong was supposed to be the new anchor in midfield and a possible successor to Sergio Busquets. Into his second season at Barcelona, instead, he’s become a bargaining chip for a poorly run club.