Frenkie De Jong Tempted To Leave FC Barcelona For Champions League-Challenging Project: Reports

Star midfielder Frenkie de Jong could be tempted to leave FC Barcelona for a project capable of challenging for the Champions League at Paris Saint Germain, according to El Nacional.

Barca beat the Parisians to the Dutchman’s signature in 2019. After he enjoyed a breakout season and a run to the Champions League semi-finals with Ajax, the Blaugrana managed to secure the youngster for a €75 million ($82.1 million) fee and immediately incorporated him into the first team then overseen by Ernesto Valverde.

Protagonism continued under his compatriot Ronald Koeman, but De Jong gradually fell out of favor with the club legend’s successor Xavi Hernandez who preferred Pedri and Gavi over the number ’21’.

With Barca swimming in debts last summer and struggling to raise funds to make new signings, this made De Jong surplus to requirements and available for prospective buyers as the club’s only realistically sellable and high-value asset.

Manchester United, now managed by his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, were reported by The Athletic to have had an €85 million ($93 million) bid accepted for De Jong in mid-July only for the player to refuse to leave.

His reasons for this were a desire to play Champions League football and succeed under Xavi. And while De Jong has indeed managed to impress the coach and become a regular starter again in a double pivot with Sergio Busquets, as Barca close in on their first La Liga title in four years, the Catalans have suffered four premature exits from Europe in the UCL and its inferior cousin the Europa League in just over a year.

It was United that knocked Barca out of the Europa League last month. Though they are still interested in the playmaker, El Nacional reports that Paris Saint Germain are again ready to try and snatch away De Jong, who could be tempted to join a project capable of challenging for the Champions League.

With Lionel Messi likely leaving them and rejoining Barca after June 30, however, swapping for PSG is hardly a great step up.

Granted Barca crashed out of the group stage for the second season running before the end of 2022, but PSG were once more thrown out of the last 16 by Bayern Munich and hardly sit at the same table as this season’s semi-finalists Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Happy in Catalonia with his long-term partner, De Jong would do well to drown out external noise again and stay put at Camp Nou.