Frenkie De Jong’s Poor And ‘Contextual’ FC Barcelona Form Is Again Triggering Talk Of A Sale

Frenkie de Jong’s poor “contextual” form at FC Barcelona as of late is again triggering rumors that the club could sell him this summer.

Bought for €75m ($80.5mn) from Ajax in 2019, the Dutchman, despite being clearly talented, has enjoyed mixed fortunes in Catalonia.

Though it is no fault of his own that he arrived in one of the club’s most testing periods, which has also seen it thrust into debts circling $1.5bn while waving goodbye to its greatest ever player in Lionel Messi, a paltry return of just one Copa del Rey trophy, no La Liga title and advancing no further than the Champions League quarter-finals, where the Blaugrana were thrashed 8-2 by Bayern Munich in Lisbon, across three seasons was surely not part of the script.

Still the 24-year-old appears to have the trust of his coach Xavi Hernandez, who on Saturday remarked of his charge: “He is playing at a very good level and has to continue here – he can be one of the best midfielders in the world for years to come.”

“If it were up to me, he would continue here for many more years. He is very important and can mark an era here. He has to score, assist and he has to be the protagonist,” the club’s second all-time appearances leader added.

Yet these comments were made before Barca’s 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, which sentenced the Catalans to their third consecutive home defeat for the first time in history and saw a furious De Jong substituted around the hour mark before heading down the tunnel without even greeting Xavi.

While De Jong was outstanding at the start of the year, and in particular in the 4-0 annihilation of Real Madrid in El Clasico last month, he is one of many players whose form has been worrying since the international break – which has again triggered talk he could be sold in the summer.

SPORT, who gave him a paltry 3/10 rating last night, call De Jong a “contextual” player on Monday, in that if the team plays well – so does he. Yet if his colleagues are struggling, the playmaker lacks the personality and influence to take the bull by the horns and dictate games like a player of his quality should.

With his former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag heading to Old Trafford this summer, El Chiringuito report that there is a €70mn ($75mn) offer on the table from Manchester United that Barca are interested in entertaining.

However if Jori Cruyff is to be believed, the potential coup is a non-starter. “We will not sell Frenkie de Jong, he’s a player valued highly within the club,” insisted his compatriot after the Rayo loss.