Frenkie de Jong’s contract with Barcelona leaked: salary, bonuses, and other variables

Barcelona are locked in negotiations with Manchester United over the sale of superstar midfielder Frenkie de Jong this summer.

The 25-year-old joined the club from AFC Ajax in 2019 and has become a mainstay in the centre of the park for the Blaugrana. While he has no intentions of leaving the club, the Catalan giants are working on a deal to get him off the books, despite Joan Laporta claiming otherwise.

It has been reported that the motivations behind the move are purely sporting-based, as manager Xavi Hernandez sees top replacement target Bernardo Silva as a better fit into his plans.

However, a fresh report from MARCA has shed some light on de Jong’s contract with Barcelona, hinting that there could be financial reasons behind the club pushing for the Netherlands star’s sale.

Frenkie de Jong’s Barcelona contract details

De Jong still has four years left on his contract with Barcelona and as per the report, the Blaugrana will owe him a massive €88.58 million in fixed salary and loyalty bonus payments over the remaining length of his deal.

On top of that, a total variable payment of €8 million (€2 million per year) could be added if he stays at the club and plays more than 60% of games in each of the four seasons left on his contract.

In addition, a maximum of €12.8 million (€3.2 million per year) would also be added for title wins and progression to the finals of the UEFA Champions League as per the bonus clauses inserted in his contract.

When the Dutchman joined Barcelona in 2019, he had signed a contract which set his fixed salary at €14 million per year. On top of that, he is also stipulated to earn loyalty bonuses worth around €15.58million.

However, the midfielder has had to waive off a large part of those payments, firstly due to Covid and then because of the club’s financial problems.

These deferred payments, which need to be settled over the remaining four years of his contract, are the primary reason behind Barça owing him close to €90 million should he end up staying and seeing out the remainder of his deal.

As per the report, in his first season at Camp Nou, de Jong received €12.32 million in fixed salary instead of €14 million due to the club enforcing a 12% paycut on all first-team stars in light of the Covid outbreak.

With the situation not easing up in 2020/21 either, Barcelona renegotiated de Jong’s contract, extending his contract by two more years until 2026 with the midfielder agreeing to deferred payments.

As per the renegotiated deal, de Jong earned just €3 million fixed salary in 2020/21 and €9 million in 2021/22, giving up as much as €16 million in total, which will need to be paid across the four remaining years of his contract.

De Jong’s salary for the remainder of his contract

As a result, de Jong’s salary for the upcoming season will rise up to €18 million (€14 million fixed + €4 million deferred payment), and with the addition of loyalty bonuses (€2.88 million), it will go up to as high as €20.88 million.

The report further states that de Jong’s fixed part of salary with loyalty for the €2023/23 campaign could rise further to €27.7 million (€18 million + €9.7 million in loyalty bonus). If the variable clauses are fulfilled, these figures will go even higher.

For the 2024/25 campaign, de Jong’s total salary, including the deferred payment, would be €18 million, with no loyalty bonus included for that season.

However, for the final year of his contract i.e., 2025/26, his fixed salary would increase by €1 million to €15 million, plus the €4 million deferred salaries, while there will be a €3 million loyalty bonus payment, taking the total to €22 million.

Should de Jong stay and see out the four years in his contract, Barcelona would have to shell out a total of €88.58 million.

So, for the midfielder to continue at Camp Nou, he would likely have to agree to lower his salary, as indicated by Laporta in a recent interview, or move to Manchester United this summer.