Barcelona president Joan Laporta has insisted he will do ‘everything’ to keep Frenkie de Jong at Camp Nou and has declared the club has ‘no intention’ of selling, despite Manchester United widely thought to be close to securing an agreement for the Dutch midfielder.
United have upped their offer for De Jong to €80m after initially seeing a €65m bid rejected and sources indicated to 90min at the end of June that an agreement was believed to be close even though the clubs remained around €5m apart in their respective valuations of the player.
But now Laporta appears to be digging in over the transfer saga, taking a firm stance over getting De Jong to stay whilst speaking at a tribute to the late Johan Cruyff.
However, he added that Barça keeping the 25-year-old will hinge on negotiating a lower salart.
“I am going to do what is in my power to that Frenkie stays but it is also a salary issue and it would have to be adjusted,” the president said, via Mundo Deportivo.
Laporta went on to claim that Manchester United are not the only club interested in De Jong.
“He is a Barça player, one of the best in the world in his position, according to the experts. We know that there are clubs that want him, not just Manchester United , and we have no intention of selling,” the president defiantly said.
“We know that he wants to stay and the criteria of the player is very important. He is comfortable in Barcelona and as little as we can, I would do everything I can to make him stay.
“What you have to look at is the salary level of some players who do not suit those who we want, but that is another discussion that has to be faced. Frenkie has a world level.”
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