Frenkie De Jong Has New FC Barcelona Status After La Liga Title Win

Frenkie de Jong’s persistence and improved form at FC Barcelona has seen him given the hard-earned status of “untouchable” at the club according to SPORT.

The Dutchman joined the Catalans in 2019 in a €75 million ($81.5 million) transfer, memorably turning down a number of other elite European clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain.

While those outfits went on to enjoy frequent domestic success helped by their unrivalled financial stability, Barca fell into one of the worst moments in club history and more than a billion dollars’ worth of debt.

Trophies were also few and far between, save for the Copa del Rey in 2021. Yet that achievement was the calm before the storm, just a few months ahead of Lionel Messi walking on a free transfer to PSG as president Joan Laporta failed to navigate Financial Fair Play limits and offer the Argentine a new contract.

The summer of 2022 saw De Jong put on the market as Barca’s only realistically, sellable high value asset but the 26-year-old then refused to move to Manchester United when Laporta accepted an €85 million ($92 million) offer for him according to The Athletic.

The Red Devils’ lack of Champions League football and a desire to succeed under Xavi Hernandez were cited as De Jong’s primary motives for the decision. When he started this season on the bench, however, he couldn’t have seemed further away from being a primary feature in his coach’s plans.

Gradually, though, in a development that was also aided by Xavi’s shift to using four midfielders, De Jong transformed into a firm starter who has had much do with his club lifting a first La Liga trophy in four years.

When he was recently injured, and Barca were thrashed 4-0 at home by Real Madrid to be knocked out of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, it became obvious just how important De Jong is to the cause and how much he is missed when not available.

For his persistence and improved form this term, SPORT reports, De Jong is now an undisputed, “untouchable” player alongside midfield partners Gavi and Pedri plus Ronald Araujo, Alejandro Balde, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Robert Lewandowski.

Though Barca cannot take credit for De Jong staying put almost 12 months ago, they now appear to have made amends by recognizing his worth.

Next will be another contract extension beyond current expiry in 2026, and rectifying the mess previous president Josep Bartomeu left behind when arranging for a pay deferral during the pandemic.