Frenkie de Jong’s departure no longer a necessity for Barcelona – report

The sale of Barcelona’s financial assets has given them the much-needed leverage in the whole Frenkie de Jong saga, with Diario AS now saying that the Dutchman’s sale is now not necessary for the team to clear their accounts.

De Jong, 25, has been a subject of strong interest for Manchester United but reaching an agreement has been rather difficult for the Premier League side. It is understood that Barcelona have already rejected United’s first approach of €60 million plus bonuses for the midfielder.

Although the offer United put forward is some €20 million off of Barcelona’s valuation, the Red Devils’ idea behind the initial bid was to test Barcelona’s delicate economic situation.

The record Premier League champions thought they would force Barcelona into a quick negotiation but as it turns out, given the recent influx that the Blaugrana will observe, the team has set an asking price of €80 million, below which every offer will be rebuffed.

News coming from the aforementioned outlet even claims that his departure is no longer a priority for the team and that if he stays, which is, in fact, his personal wish, he will remain a key player for Xavi.

As of today, the Catalan team is in no rush to sanction a sale and even if they do, the Dutchman would certainly not depart at any price.

From Manchester United’s front, their bid of €60 million wasn’t really an official offer. If anything, it was only a verbal approach and since it was rejected, the team hasn’t returned with a new bid.

At the same time, however, it is understood that they will, indeed, return with a new offer soon which will be somewhere around €70 million plus variables. The offer is once again short of Barcelona’s valuation but remains to be seen how the management would react to it.