Barcelona not concerned by stalled contract negotiations with star midfielder

Barcelona had made it an objective to ensure that none of their players entered the final year of their deals this summer, with the exception of veteran Robert Lewandowski. However both Frenkie de Jong and Eric Garcia find themselves in that situation.

The latter is expected to sign a new deal at some point, with manager Hansi Flick making a point of requesting that he remains at the club. Meanwhile de Jong is also expected to stay, but the Blaugrana have been met with delays from the Dutchman’s end.

It has been reported that Barcelona and de Jong already have a verbal agreement to renew his deal with a wage cut for the Dutchman, who is currently one of the two highest earners in the squad alongside Lewandowski. The plan is for de Jong to commit for another four years, which would make him 32 by the time his deal expires.

One of the key factors in unblocking negotiations that have been ongoing for much of the past year was de Jong’s decision to move on from agent Ali Dursun, with whom relations were strained at the club. MD (via Sempre Barca) say that de Jong is yet to formally break ties with Dursun though, hence the club are unable to push ahead with the renewal. Even so, despite time ticking on, Barcelona are relaxed about the situation, and expect the renewal to be confirmed sooner rather than later.

One of the reasons Barcelona will be hoping that this is the case is the impact on their salary limit. If de Jong is accepting a lower wage over the course of the four years, then releasing some extra space to register the likes of Wojciech Szczesny, Joan Garcia and potentially Marcus Rashford will be no small help. For that to happen, Barcelona need to complete the renewal before the end of the transfer window.