Barcelona will not activate purchase option for on-loan forward

On-loan striker Luuk de Jong will return to Sevilla once his ongoing deal with Barcelona expires at the end of the season.

As quoted by the Spanish news outlet AS, de Jong’s surge in form is set to bring extra revenue at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as his parent club is said to be planning on a reported sale. 

To say de Jong’s Barcelona tenure has been an absolute roller coaster adventure would be an understatement. What started as an abject move eventually proved out to be a sheer masterclass. Who knew the player, once a surplus to requirements, would go on to score important goals for the team.

De Jong has had difficult tenures at Borussia Monchengladbach and Newcastle United in the past, but his stocks particularly plummeted when he scored a brace in the 2020 Europa League final against Inter Milan.

Post that, Sevilla, for once, even considered a sale but with no firm replacement available, only for manager Julen Lopetegui to deny the possibility of any exit.

On came Barcelona in 2021, but the ride hasn’t really been as flat as a pancake. Someone who was supposed to spend the rest of the season was suddenly facing a premature exit in January 2022.

Reports even claimed that a move to Cadiz was on the cards, but the Netherlands international had other ideas.

But now that everything’s settled, the good times won’t last long as he will, in fact, return to Sevilla by the end of the season.

It’s important to note that Barça do not have a purchase option, but what they do have is a right of first refusal, although this is something they are certain to pass over.

Once de Jong returns, the striker will have a solitary year left on his deal and given how clinical he has been in the second half of the season, the Palanganas will look to cash in on him as they know at 31 years of age, he does not really have much left in his tank.

For someone as tuneful as Luuk de Jong, destiny has been pretty unharmonious, but he will always have an option of going back to PSV, where he is considered as an idol.