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Former Manchester United defender and football expert Gary Neville feels that Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong must “consider legal action” against Barcelona. The Dutch midfielder has been at the centre of one of the most dramatic transfer sagas of the season.
De Jong’s club Barcelona had reportedly agreed to sell him to Manchester United for a fee of €75million (£63million, $75million), with a further potential € 10 million (£8.47million, $10 million) in add-ons.
However, the situation has hit a new roadblock because the midfielder is owed €17m in deferred salary. But recent reports from Spain suggest that head coach Xavi has told De Jong to lower his current salary if he wants to stay with the Blaugrana.
Reacting to these speculations, Neville tweeted, “De Jong should consider legal action [versus] Barcelona and all players should be behind him! A club spending fortunes on new players whilst not paying the ones they have under contract their full money is immoral and a breach. @FIFPRO should be all over bullying like this and stop it.”
But despite the club’s financial troubles pointed out by Neville, the president of Barcelona addressed his admiration for the Dutchman and denied that any deal has been reached with any team yet. He said, "Frenkie de Jong is our player, we really like him. We received some offers for Frenkie but we didn't accept as of now, as we want to talk with him and know exactly what he wants. We need to clarify some aspects of his situation".
Barcelona’s financial situation has been ruling the headlines over the last few weeks. Reports say that the club still allegedly owes veteran defender Gerard Pique 50m euros in deferred wages. But still, they have managed to make expensive signings like Robert Lewandowski, and Raphina which are worth a combined price of €100 million.
Similarly, they have also signed free agents like Frank Kessie and Andreas Christensen from AC Milan and Chelsea FC. Hence fans have been scratching their heads about how the club has pulled off these as they still are reportedly dealing with a debt of around €1 Billion.