THE PLAYER FROM ARKEL DID NOT PLAY AGAINST LEGANÉS
Another Discard? Uncertainty Grows Over Frenkie de Jong's Future
Published:16/12/2024 - 21:09h
Updated:16/12/2024 - 21:09h
Hansi Flick did not include Frenkie de Jong for the FC Barcelona-Leganés match. The midfielder is still far from his best form, and the management fears for his future, as a transfer seems very distant.
Frenkie de Jong's future is becoming a headache for the FC Barcelona management. The Dutchman receives the second highest salary in the squad (19 million euros net per year) and still has a contract until June 2026, but his slow recovery and limited involvement under Hansi Flick's orders complicate the market aspirations of a Barça that already attempted, unsuccessfully, to transfer him in 2022 and 2023.
Against Leganés, the German coach opted for Gavi and Fermín López to seek a comeback in the second half. Pau Víctor also came on late, along with two seemingly logical substitutions (Ferran Torres and Pau Cubarsí) that, unfortunately, were not enough to overturn the early goal from the 'pepinero' team. Remaining on the bench on Sunday may be interpreted by the player from Arkel as a clear message about the little confidence he has managed to gain so far.
And it is that, beyond his stellar entry against Mallorca (goal and assist in the last 15 minutes) and the great second half against Real Madrid, there have been few quality minutes that Frenkie has accumulated this season. In La Liga, he was only a starter against Real Sociedad, completing a forgettable first half. In the Champions League, he was also in the XI against Red Star, but barely added residual minutes against Brest and Dortmund.
The market offers no solutions for Barça with Frenkie de Jong
Looking ahead to the winter market, De Jong is not on Barça's discard list. For the summer, the situation may be very different, although it will all depend on the prominence that the '21' has in the second half of the 2024/25 season. So far, he has accumulated 362 minutes spread over 13 matches, scant playing time for a player used to being a starter since his arrival in Catalonia in 2019.
The management does not rule out renewing his contract in the coming months to ensure a high transfer fee (around 70 'kilos'), a figure that Manchester United was willing to pay on a couple of occasions, without a positive response from the midfielder. Due to his poor current form, transfer rumors surrounding Frenkie have faded in recent weeks, a factor that increases concern within the azulgrana ranks.
