Barcelona claims that ‘evidence of criminality’ permits them to terminate Frenkie de Jong’s contract

Barcelona has allegedly informed Frenkie de Jong that they want to terminate his current contract and return to the conditions he signed in 2019.

De Jong, who is worth £54 million according to Transfermarkt, was offered a massive two-year deal by former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, which is expected to make him roughly £16.8 million this season and a further £21 million next season.

According to the Daily Mail, Barca is claiming ‘proof of wrongdoing’ as a cause to nullify the Dutchman’s mega-deal.

This is only the latest in a string of events between Barcelona and De Jong this summer.

The Catalan club is in terrible financial problems, yet they went ahead and spent the cash this summer, bringing in Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, and Jules Kounde for a total of £137 million in transfer fees.

That doesn’t even take into consideration their exorbitant pay, and, unfortunately, La Liga won’t even allow Barcelona to register new players unless they’ve lowered their present salary cost by a certain amount.

So it seems that the Blaugrana are going to great measures to match the league’s demands, beginning with either pushing De Jong out or asking that he lower his compensation.

It seems that they’d like to simply get him off the books. However, De Jong’s ambition for Champions League play is giving them problems, as a £63 million contract with Manchester United was snubbed last month owing to his European demands.

Chelsea is still interested, although it is thought that their desire is less definite than it was a few weeks ago.

The issue is further complicated by the £17 million owed to De Jong by Barcelona for salaries withheld till now.

As a result, with De Jong not seeming inclined to pack his belongings and leave the city, the Barcelona board has sought to increase the pressure on the Dutchman by threatening legal action over his present contract.

According to the Daily Mail, the Athletic informed the player on July 15 that they had discovered “proof of crime on behalf of the parties who signed his extension” back in 2020.

They then went on to say that, in light of the results, De Jong should agree to return to his old conditions, or they may be forced to file criminal charges.