Frenkie de Jong has stated that he never wanted to leave Barcelona during the summer, despite the fact that the team wanted to sell him and that both Manchester United and Chelsea were quite interested.
Barcelona’s financial situation dominated the market; the Catalans were compelled to sell players to balance the books and enable them to sign a new-look squad. Even though head coach Xavi insisted De Jong was still a “essential” player, De Jong was unquestionably a marketable asset.
United and Barcelona even reached an agreement on a price of €85 million (£74 million), but the intended transaction was severely hampered by issues relating to player’s outstanding deferred salaries. Officials at Old Trafford were still convinced that the deal would go through, but it was never approved.
Chelsea also made strides and had discussions with Barcelona, but it was never certain that De Jong would actually leave Camp Nou.
The ex-Ajax player has now revealed that he decided to stay put as early as May.
“I knew what I wanted, staying at Barcelona,” he told NOS. “I can’t quite go into details. The club sometimes have its own ideas about things and so do I. Sometimes that collides, but overall it went fine. I always had it clear what I wanted. There was a lot of noise and a lot happened. It has of course been different from other transfer windows for me.
“Manchester United and Chelsea? In May I had already decided that I would continue at Barça. I never changed my mind.”
This season, De Jong has been in and out of Barcelona’s starting lineup. Although he has started the club’s previous two home matches against Cadiz and Elche, he has only been used as a substitute five times in La Liga thus far.
