Barcelona“The transfer market must be understood more in economic terms than in sports.” This phrase is repeated day in and day out in both the Barça offices and the League headquarters. A busy summer is approaching in terms of transfers, as almost every month in July and August, but it will be especially tense at the Camp Nou. In Barcelona, the problems with the salary limitation continue and the club has to work hard to be able to strengthen itself. That’s why when a club like Manchester United is interested in Frenkie de Jong, Barça quickly sit down and negotiate.
According to journalist Gerard Romero and confirmed by ARA, Barça and United are talking about the transfer of Frenkie de Jong, and the operation is quite advanced. There is no closed figure yet, but it could be around 80 million euros. An amount that would allow Barça to make cash – it would generate accounting profit – and save its salary, about 10 million a year.
United’s interest in signing Frenkie de Jong is understood, above all, with the change of coach. The red devils they will be coached by Erik ten Hag, who is leaving Ajax this summer to head to the British Isles. The Dutchman has led Ajax since 2017, a year after De Jong landed in the first team. But it was he who turned the footballer into an undisputed starter, gave him the keys to the midfield and now he wants him to play that role in Manchester as well.
The English team, Pep Guardiola’s national rival, has agreed to the requests of his coach. And Frenkie de Jong’s representative has been more than willing to complete the operation, as it would mean a salary increase for the footballer, as well as a juicy commission as a result of the transfer. But on the other hand, the midfielder does not see the change of air so clearly. De Jong had wanted to play for Barça for a long time and is very comfortable in Barcelona, although he is often criticized for his performances.
Selling De Jong improves the salary cap
Barça did not like the fact that this information came to light, because they fear that a media marketing campaign could start that could end up harming Barça: either by lowering the transfer price or making it difficult for it to be reinforced elsewhere. In any case, the possible transfer is seen as a good option to earn a salary margin to sign this summer. And it is that Barça, as it is already known, has a negative limit and, therefore, can only be strengthened by obtaining extraordinary income, as for example with the sale of footballers top. Frenkie is a franchise player, as his salary represents more than 5% of the club’s total chips. Therefore, in this case, the 1/3 rule would apply: 33% of what Barça saves in their salary can be used to buy other players, and 33% of the profit generated by the transfer, also .
Frenkie de Jong arrived at Barça in the summer of 2019, although his signing was closed earlier, in January of that year, after a lightning trip by then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu to Amsterdam. He was a footballer with a lot of projection and several clubs wanted to get his services, but the president did not want to take risks and ended up closing the operation for 75 million fixed plus 11 variables. Three seasons later, and speaking in accounting terms, De Jong has about 30 million left to pay off his signing. This means that anything that exceeds this amount will serve as an “economic lever” – in terms of the current president, Joan Laporta – to be able to make additions. The numbers pass in front of the ball.
