Barcelona midfielder will not be part of summer cost-cutting after consolidating place in team

Heading into the summer transfer window, Barcelona have been told by La Liga that they will need to lower their wage bill by a mammoth €200 million.

The two parties have been at loggerheads over the Financial Fair Play issues for a while now and if Barcelona wish to sign players in the summer, the league has made it clear that they will need to slash the wage bill by at least €200 million.

One of the ways that Barcelona can do so is by player sales as it will not only increase the revenue of the club but also reduce the wage bill.

The Blaugrana had tried to deploy this strategy last summer and push Frenkie de Jong out of the club. The Catalans had reached an agreement with Manchester United over a massive €85 million deal and were hoping to offload him to generate income and lighten their salary bill.

The midfielder though dug his heels and refused to leave, even though Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag personally spoke to him to try and persuade him to move to Old Trafford.

Now that Barcelona will have to resort to a similar strategy to reduce their wages, Mundo Deportivo’s Roger Torello is reporting that de Jong will not be considered in the club’s cost-cutting measures for the summer after he has consolidated his place in the team.

The 25-year-old had been pushed to the bench by Xavi in the early parts of the campaign. However, that has changed gradually over the course of the season with the Dutchman now one of the first names on the teamsheet.

De Jong has consistently been churning out top displays one after the other, be it as an interior midfielder or in the pivot position when Sergio Busquets has been rested.

And Barcelona are seemingly clear that the former AFC Ajax man is an ‘untouchable’ now and will not be sold in the summer.

So, the club will have to look at some of their under-performing players such as Ferran Torres or even possibly Ansu Fati as potential options to sell in the summer. What seems to be clear is that de Jong will not be dragged into the equation.