The keys to the plot twist in De Jong's future

BarcelonaA couple of summers ago, it seemed impossible to imagine that Frenkie de Jong could have a future in the Barça dressing room. The club was one step away from transferring him to Manchester UnitedThe reasons were essentially economic rather than sporting. Certainly, the Dutch midfielder wasn't quite fitting into the Barça starting eleven and suffered a string of injuries that curtailed his performance. But he was a player with a very high salary, there were still millions to be paid off from his transfer from Ajax, and he had enough standing to make a splash at a time of maximum agony for the Barça treasury. He, on the other hand, always advocated staying. And he did. Even though the toll was a huge internal war between the player, the sporting directors, and the media, including a threat of a lawsuit.

Today, everything is different. Like night and day. De Jong maintains his desire to stay at Barcelona. And now Barça also wants him to stay. In fact, they are negotiating a renewal with Deco, as reported by The AthleticAt the beginning of the season, the club made an initial approach to the player to extend his contract with Barça, which ended in 2026. The sporting directors didn't want him to arrive in the summer of 2025 without a clear future. Either he stayed or he left for a transfer fee. But under no circumstances did Barça want him to start his final season without being tied down. The player saw it coming and didn't respond to the proposal. Now they do. He says he wants to stay and has sat down at the negotiating table.

Hansi Flick's arrival on the bench has turned everything around. The midfielder was already getting minutes under Ronald Koeman and Xavi Hernández, but it was under the German coach that his performance improved. He feels more and more comfortable on the pitch. Everyone can feel it, including the stands, who have replaced the whistles, boos, and doubts with loud applause.

De Jong has already forgotten about his ankle injury and doesn't think about it when he plays.

And that's despite the fact that De Jong didn't start the season until October, having recovered from an ankle injury he suffered in March that, after a relapse, sidelined him for 32 games. With Flick on the bench, the center position was initially occupied by Marc Bernal. But when the Berguedá native got injured, the coach gave confidence to Marc Casadó. De Jong worked in the shadows and gradually became part of the team. There was skepticism in the Barça environment. He continued. Until the arrival of the overtakingDe Jong is now the starter. The injury is behind him, and he no longer fears further setbacks. He simply doesn't think about it.

De Jong has always been in love with Barça and Barcelona. He wanted to play since he was little and had already attended the Camp Nou as a spectator. The criticism hurt him, no matter how hard he tried to isolate himself. The situation reached the point of causing a confrontation between the player and the press, which accused him of making things up. What De Jong didn't know was that, internally, the club had worked to sack him and free up too much salary. Mateu Alemany, Barça's former sporting director, believed he had an unreasonable salary and made it his business to announce it to the world. It was a time when Barça was very short on resources and wanted the player to voluntarily agree to a pay cut. Which he didn't do.

De Jong and Barça: a broken promise and a threat of a lawsuit

The club got angry and maneuvered to exert media pressure against the player. It even went so far as to threaten to take your contract, which they considered disproportionate, to the ordinary courts. When De Jong and his agents found out, they counterattacked and were on the verge of reporting the situation to FIFA. At that point, Barça backed down.

Aside from the money, De Jong was upset with Barça because when he signed the contract He had been promised that he would be the natural replacement for Sergio Busquets. When push came to shove, he rarely occupied the sole pivot position. Furthermore, with Gavi's emergence, the technical secretariat felt his position was already covered by someone in-house who, financially, was cheaper. Another conflict the player only learned about after the fact.

Today, the problems and doubts are behind him. De Jong is happy at Barça and in Barcelona. He feels like a starter, a key player, and useful. He's comfortable in the locker room, where he's already a veteran with six seasons of experience. The team has a different feel. He believes there's a winning generation and dreams of big titles, like the Champions League he was on the verge of winning with Ajax just before arriving in Barcelona. He believes that at Camp Nou—or on Montjuïc—lifting the big-eared trophy is possible.