Barcelona are going to have to make sacrifices in the upcoming transfer market, and it is likely they will have to sell at least one or two players who are considered starters. Who those players should be is a question that could define Deco’s tenure as Sporting Director, along with the decision of the manager. However he has more options on the table than Mateu Alemany did.
According to Esport3, Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong is open to leaving Barcelona for the first time. Given the state of the club, now set to lose Xavi Hernandez as manager, de Jong is disappointed in the club and its direction, and would consider an exit.
Two summers ago he was being pushed out the door by Barcelona, but refused to leave, as he was happy with his life in Catalonia, and determined to continue at the club of his dreams. Manchester United were heavily interested before they signed Casemiro from Real Madrid, but are unlikely to be in the frame for his signature again. If he is to leave, he wants it to be for a club that can genuinely aspire to win the Champions League.
Naturally de Jong is one of their best players, and there will be an immediate reluctance to sell the player that was supposed to define a decade at the club after they spent €80m on him in 2019. However the fact that his salary, just below €25m per annum this year, makes a sale much more attractive for the Blaugrana.
Already Deco has decided that if de Jong will not renegotiate his contract, or sign an extension, then he will look to sell him. However perhaps the bigger problem for Barcelona is that their best players, including Ronald Araujo reportedly, are open to leaving the club. That in itself threatens to torpedo Joan Laporta’s project if the players no longer see it as a place they can achieve their goals.