Barcelona needs to sell De Jong, faces sanction for breach of Financial Fair Play

Much has already been written about Frenkie de Jong’s potential departure from Catalan side Barcelona, but the newly completed transfer of winger Raphinha from Leeds United puts a little more pressure on De Jong’s transfer. Barcelona could face punishment from UEFA for breaching the Fanancial Fair Play rules if the Dutchman remains at the club.

That the budget of the club from the east coast of Spain is more than tight has been a secret for some time now. The mere rumour of Bayern Munich’s directive that in a year or two the Catalan colossus will no longer exist because of its finances has not put a smile on the faces of Blaugranas fans.

On the other hand, the introduction of the Brazilian Raphinha from British Leeds as a new addition to Xavi’s squad could certainly bring joy to the Blue-Red camp. But hand in hand with this is the mounting pressure to make De Jong’s transfer to Manchester United a reality, who are using his former Ajax coach Erik ten Hag as the main attraction for the midfielder.

However, the Arcel native does not want to leave sunny Barcelona at any cost and has repeatedly stated that the Camp Nou is his dream destination, which is not surprising for an Ajax-bred player.

But his departure is absolutely crucial for Barca’s finances. According to Mundo Deportivo, his transfer would generate between 30 and 35 million in the wage budget. Thus, in the current situation, there is no scenario in which the club could keep De Jong while possibly bringing in additional reinforcements.

That would be the still shortlisted goal-scorer in waiting Robert Lewandowski, who Bayern value at a minimum of €40 million. However, the Bavarians have made it clear that they want to keep the Polish forward, even though his current contract in Germany expires next summer and Lewandowski is therefore at risk of leaving for free.

The fact is that FC Barcelona’s management is doing what it can to improve the club’s sorry financial condition. As part of this effort, €200 million has flowed into the club’s coffers from the sale of television rights, which is largely why the Catalans could afford the aforementioned transfer of Raphinha, or the signing of two free agents, Kessie from AC Milan and Christensen from Chelsea.

Goal , OneFootball