FC Barcelona Advise Frenkie De Jong To Annul Contract Over Alleged Criminal Activity, And Threaten Legal Action

FC Barcelona have told midfielder Frenkie de Jong that wish to annul his current contract and return to his previous deal as they allege that the terms awarded to him by the club’s previous president Josep Bartomeu involved criminal activity and have provided them with grounds for legal action against those that were involved, according to The Athletic.

De Jong has been involved in a transfer saga this summer that at one point reportedly saw Barca accept an 85mn offer for him from Manchester United.

The Dutchman refused to leave the club due to the Red Devils’ lack of Champions League football and a desire to succeed under new Barca coach Xavi Hernandez, and in recent weeks the Catalans seem to have had a change of heart and are now looking to find ways to keep him.

With debts of around $1.5bn, though, Barca need De Jong to fall in line with new club policy that sees no first team player earning over €10mn ($10.2mn) a year.

As reported by SPORT on Monday morning, this is something which De Jong is apparently reluctant to do after already taking a paycut once before and deferring parts of his salary.

As part of an agreement struck on the watch of reigning president Joan Laporta’s predecessor Bartomeu, De Jong is scheduled to take home €18mn ($18.4mn) next season and €88.58mn ($90.2mn) over the remaining four years of his contract.

Yet according to The Athletic, Barcelona informed De Jong on July 15 that they have found “evidence of criminal actions on behalf of the parties” that signed his renewal on October 20 in 2020.

Back then, with Barca reeling from the effects of the pandemic, De Jong agreed a two-year extension to his 2019 contract when he joined from Ajax.

This saw his salary reduced for the last two seasons in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, and left €18million ($18.3m) to be spread out across the next four campaigns with the owed sum also said to be another motive for refusing to join Manchester United.

In a letter to the player, Barca are believed to have informed De Jong that they have the grounds “to initiate criminal proceedings to establish what happened in relation to the signing of his contract and ascertain where responsibility resides for the supposed wrongdoing”.

Due to this, Barca apparently wish to annul the arrangement, and then offer De Jong a new contract under the terms that he agreed in 2019 to help them navigate Financial Fair Play rules and register their new players amid a strict La Liga salary cap.

The Athletic say that Bartomeu’s board are confident in the legality De Jong’s 2020 contract, which they insist was approved by legal parties and also La Liga.

There has also been further dialogue between Barca and De Jong, where Laporta’s board warned De Jong and his camp that they might also be implicated in criminal allegations.