Frenkie de Jong is sued by Barcelona for lowering his pay.

It has been suggested that the 22-year-old Dutch midfielder, who has been widely linked with a move to Manchester United this summer, should terminate his current contract with Barca.

Published: 8 August 2022

The Catalan giants claim his current contract contains “proof of wrongdoing,” which is why they are taking this action. Twitter posts from The Athletic’s David Ornstein: “As of July 15th, Barcelona informed Frenkie de Jong that they had proof of criminality surrounding the contract given by the old board and have cause to take legal action against everybody concerned.

According to the report, “FC Barcelona asked him to terminate pact & restore to original terms.” Last month, Man Utd had an offer approved for De Jong, but the deal fell through due to the player’s unwillingness to join Old Trafford and the rumoured £14.5m he owes in unpaid transfer fees to Barcelona.

United‘s offer was accepted, and Barca allegedly informed De Jong in a letter that there was evidence of criminal conduct in the contract extension he signed on October 20, 2020.

Barca’s financial woes were alleviated in part by the two-year agreement, which would keep him with the club until 2026. However, his compensation will be decreased for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

Frenkie de Jong

This meant that De Jong will receive £15.2 million for the remaining four years of his contract. The club’s salary cap has been lowered thanks to the signing of identical contracts by Gerard Pique, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and Clement Lenglet.

Barca now wants De Jong to go back to the conditions of the contract he signed in January of this year. Claims that De Jong’s representatives may be complicit in the alleged wrongdoing were also allegedly brought up in conversations between the club and player.

Former administration members, including president Josep Bartomeu who lost his job just last year, are confident that the extension of the contract was within the law.

Those representing De Jong have been contacted by SunSport. However, just hours after current president Joan Laporta indicated that De Jong wants to continue at the Camp Nou, reports emerge of possible legal action being launched.

To quote what he had to say: “We’d want for him to remain a Barca player because of how valuable he is to the team. “He’s been approached by other companies, but he wants to stay here, and we want him to stay, too.”