Barcelona contact superstar’s entourage to discuss a long-term deal with salary reduction

Barcelona find themselves in a difficult predicament heading into the January transfer window as they would be unable to sign any players due to Financial Fair play issues.

Hence, the Blaugrana are looking for ways to meet the Fair Play requirements that would allow them to strengthen the roster in the winter.

An exit for fringe stars like Memphis Depay and Hector Bellerin is being talked about while the club is also looking into bringing in revenue through sponsorship deals. Another way for Barça to address the matter would be to reduce the salaries of some of the current players.

And according to SPORT, Barcelona have contacted the entourage of Frenkie de Jong to discuss a long-term deal with the midfielder albeit with a reduced salary.

The 25-year-old is one of the highest-earners at Spotify Camp Nou currently, with his salary increasing multifold this season due to the wage deferrals from the past campaigns.

Barcelona tried to get de Jong to reduce his salary or force an exit in the summer window by threatening legal measures to declare his contract extension in 2020 as null and void.

However, having failed at that, the club are now hoping to convince the Dutchman to agree a new deal on reduced terms so that they can shed some salary mass.

The Catalans are clear that de Jong does not want to leave and given that Xavi sees him as a key part of the setup, they want to extend him on a long-term deal to show that he is untouchable, but also decrease his wages.

Barcelona see it as important that an agreement be reached at the earliest as it would allow them Fair Play margin to make new signings in January.

However, in case they fail to agree a deal before summer, the report claims that the Blaugrana would again be open to offers for the Netherlands international as the club’s situation in the summer market could be even more difficult to negotiate.