Neville: De Jong should sue Barcelona! Club can’t spend on transfers and then not pay its own players

Frenkie de Jong is currently one of the most followed figures on the transfer market. Barcelona are trying mightily to get rid of him, but they still owe the Dutch midfielder €17 million.

Imagine de Jong’s situation in practice. In your company, they don’t pay you the money you have in your contract for the whole of last year. They tell you that the company is in a difficult financial situation and you have to help it to recover.

But then the boss cheerfully hires new employees and offers them generous bonuses. When you ask for your money, which you are entitled to under the contract, the boss wants to fire you so that your claim is extinguished and he doesn’t have to pay you anything. Crazy, right? That’s exactly how de Jong feels at Barcelona.

In fact, the Catalans brought in Lewandowski and Raphinha, paying over 100 million euros for both. On top of that, they brought in Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen as free agents, plus new signings Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto. But to pay their own players what they deserve? Don’t go to Barcelona with that.

That said, it’s not to say that the money isn’t there at the club right now. In fact, president Joan Laporta has sold off part of the club’s future for 25 years ahead through TV and merch rights, landing around €600 million in the budget. Culés are happily using it for transfers, but de Jong is still waiting.

And Barcelona’s solution? Laporta wants to get rid of de Jong, trying to sell him at any price. He thinks that if de Jong leaves the club, his demand for unpaid wages will disappear.

But the 25-year-old midfielder doesn’t want to leave the sunny Catalan capital, and so the whole situation is still going round in circles. And this has not lasted Gary Neville, the legendary Manchester United footballer and currently an expert of the English Sky Sports.

“De Jong should consider legal action against Barcelona and all players should get behind him! The club is spending a fortune on new players and yet is unable to pay its own players what they have stipulated in their contracts. It is immoral and a breach of contract. FIFPRO (the Players Protection Organisation) should look into this bullying and put a stop to it,” Neville wrote on Twitter.

Source: Twitter, MARCA