It’s no secret that Barcelona is looking to bring Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva to Camp Nou despite the financial restrictions and according to a report by Football Transfers, Manchester City is looking to exploit the situation by demanding Frenkie de Jong in return.
City currently value Silva around the €80 million mark and have long been an admirer of Dutch midfielder de Jong. Although a straight swap is unlikely with Barca valuing de Jong at over €100 million.
Many believe de Jong to be untouchable at Barcelona, and considering Xavi has expressed a desire to bring in two new central midfielders to improve his squad depth, a straight swap deal for the 26-year-old former Ajax man doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
The report indicates that Barcelona may be open to this move in an effort to cut their wage bill, but Bernardo Silva won’t be cheap, so it’s unclear how much of a saving there is to be made with a potential swap deal.
One year makes a big difference for de Jong and Barcelona
Barcelona reportedly accepted a deal from Manchester United for de Jong last year, but the versatile midfielder was committed to staying in Catalonia.
The saga was a long and drawn-out process for de Jong, but his decision to stick with Barca paid dividends with Blaugrana being named La Liga champions.
The midfielder was pivotal to Xavi last season making 33 appearances in La Liga, and the expectation is that the Barca manager will be relying on the Dutch international again this year.
This is likely a case of Manchester City trying their luck, knowing that the Dutchman occupies a large portion of Barca’s wage bill. However, my expectation is that this will be rejected out of hand by Joan Laporta.
There are many ways for Barca to cut the wage bill including the potential transfer of Clement Lenglet to Tottenham.