Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has admitted his delight at finally being able to move on from years of transfer uncertainty by signing a new contract.
Since the summer of 2022, De Jong has been relentlessly linked with an exit from Barcelona and, more specifically, a move to Manchester United, with countless reports claiming the Blaugrana were desperate to sell and move on from his high wages.
Despite the speculation, De Jong stood firm and was recently rewarded for both his loyalty and his form by a new contract, at which point he took the opportunity to blast those spreading false information about his earnings.
Sitting down with El País, De Jong opened up on the relentless speculation and his belief that it was largely fuelled by internal club politics.
“I’ve always been clear that I wanted to stay at Barcelona,” he explained. “I’ve always been happy with the team, with playing here.
“There was a time when there was more pressure, just as there was another time when there were people at the club who wanted to sell me to make money. I think it was in the summer of 2023 or 2022, I can’t remember exactly.
“At one point, I could understand them. The club was going through a difficult financial period, and I was a player on the market. But I was clear: I wanted to stay at Barcelona. And I was confident that, if everything was going well, I would play. It’s always been that way. In the end, when you have a contract, if you decide you want to stay, you stay. That's why I wasn’t afraid.”
De Jong: Media Have Responsibility to Report Facts
Quizzed on his feelings towards the role played by the media in his lengthy transfer saga, De Jong again took aim at those gleefully reporting on his salary without verifying the information.
“They can tell me they get information from within the club. OK, but in the end, they’re the ones who make the news,” De Jong said. “For example, if the BBC says Frenkie earns €40 million a year, it’s their responsibility to ensure the information they publish is true.
“And when something isn’t true, as was the case in this case, I feel I have the right to attack them: they published something that was false. But I also know how this works.
“I know there’s someone at the club who says, ‘Put pressure on Frenkie because we want to sell him this summer.’ But you have to verify whether the information is reliable or not. And if they don’t have the information, then they should write an opinion piece.
“Let them say, ‘Frenkie has to leave because he hasn’t performed as he should.’ That’s an opinion. But if they publish figures that aren’t true, I think they're wrong.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Frenkie de Jong Reveals True Impact of Barcelona Exit Saga.