Frenkie de Jong, a midfielder for Barcelona, has acknowledged that club president Joan Laporta put pressure on him to leave this summer.
De Jong, one of the club’s highest earners, was a top target for Manchester United this summer, but he was adamant he did not want to leave Camp Nou, not least because he would not receive the sizeable deferred wages he was owed from the team.
Publicly, Laporta stated that he wanted De Jong to stay, but he insisted time and time again that if he did, he would have to accept a pay cut. De Jong remained at Barcelona after the transfer window closed on the same contract he had before.
De Jong discussed his treatment by Laporta in his interview with Ziggo Sport.
“I was calm. I decided in May that I wanted to stay,” De Jong began. “My opinion never changed during the whole period. I remained calm.
“But then, you know, the pressure started coming. From the newspapers, from the president…from everywhere, in fact.
“But I wanted to stay at Barça, so it never bothered me.”
De Jong has only made one start in the Champions League, which came in the first round of games against Victoria Plzen. He has since substituted in against Bayern Munich and Inter.
“I knew [Xavi] would give me fewer minutes at the beginning of the season,” De Jong acknowledged. “I want to be a starter again.
“Against Bayern, I wasn’t a starter but I hope to be against Real Madrid.”
