Fabrizio Romano claims Barcelona have free run at signing big contract – ‘He only wants to play for Barcelona’

Barcelona might not be in the market for major signings for several seasons, but part of the reason for that is their limited resources are being committed to maintaining their young core in situ. One of the players they see as a crucial part of the infrastructure is Frenkie de Jong.

The Dutch midfielder was public enemy number one two summers ago, as the Blaugrana tried to solve their financial issues in one fell swoop through the sale of de Jong. He resisted, and is happy with his decision to do so, but it has strained relations with the club hierarchy.

According to recent reports, Barcelona want to renew de Jong’s contract, but Fabrizio Romano has told Caught Offside that talks will be pushed into next year.

“Not now. Barca won’t sign any contract extension in 2023, all talks will take place in 2024 including Frenkie de Jong, for sure key player for Barca plans,” he told the Daily Briefing.

However the two parties do have a mutual interest in finding an agreement.

“About other clubs, nothing to say at this stage as Frenkie has always been clear; he wants to play for Barca.”

The hope for Barcelona has been that Deco can patch up relations with de Jong and his agents, having only arrived this summer. Thus far, he has only been in contact with them via phone, but will have to up the ante in the coming months. De Jong’s absence has coincided with a major drop off in performance this campaign, and given the history, it seems Barcelona are most likely to do what they can to keep de Jong past his current 2025 deal. In order to fit into the new salary structure, de Jong will have to take a salary cut.