Barcelona head coach Xavi has revealed he doesn’t know if Frenkie de Jong will still be at the club by the end of the transfer window.
90min reports that Manchester United have agreed a fee totalling €85m for the midfielder, but the deal is being held up over the Dutchman’s insistence on being paid around €20m in deferred wages.
Club president Joan Laporta has consistently said he will do everything in his power to keep De Jong at Camp Nou, though has admitted this may not be possible.
And Xavi has confirmed that there remain doubts about whether De Jong will stay in Catalonia this upcoming season, though his idea to play him as a centre-back is not meant to be taken as a sign that he is not in the club’s plans.
“I don’t know if he’s [De Jong] going to stay here. There’s still time and a lot of things can still happen,” Xavi said following Barcelona’s 2-0 pre-season win at New York Red Bulls.
“At the moment he’s part of the team, like everyone else. The fact that he played as a central defender in the other games was not a sign that he was leaving.
“I don’t need to send signals on the pitch. I can speak directly with my footballers.”
While De Jong wants to receive his unpaid wages, Barcelona have been busy splashing the cash this summer. Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen have joined on free transfers, while Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde have signed for large fees.
