Barça believe Bartomeu signed De Jong under an illegal contract

On 15th July, Barcelona contacted Frenkie de Jong to inform him that they had found indications of illegalities in the renewal that he signed in October 2020, that is to say, in the contract that currently links him to the club. Joan Laporta's board then proposed this solution: to return to the terms of the contract he signed in 2019, when he arrived from Ajax.

'The Athletic' reports on this new chapter in the ongoing attempts to get the Dutchman to move to Manchester United. Such an exit is necessary to reduce the wage bill and to register signings, but for the time being, the midfielder is refusing to move to the Premier League.

Returning to the main issue, it has not come to light what aspects of the player's current contract are illegal. It is worth remembering that he renewed until 2026 last time and reduced his salary for the 20-21 and 21-22 seasons, as well as spreading 18 million of his salary over the following four seasons (22-23, 23-24, 24-25 and 25-26) to make it more affordable for the team's coffers.

As mentioned in the first paragraph, the solution proposed by Barcelona is to return to the first contract Frenkie had at Barcelona, i.e. the one that tied him to the club until 2024 when he was a new arrival from Ajax. If the player agrees, the 'Cules' would manage to shorten his remaining years at Camp Nou despite having to assume again his first salary, which was higher.

Josep Maria Bartomeu contacted 'The Athletic', as reported by this same media and other national media such as the 'COPE' channel, to deny that any illegal contract was signed during his presidency. He argued that the document was reviewed by Barça's legal services, Compliance, E&Y auditors and even La Liga.

"For me, it's hard to believe that nobody realised that it was illegal," COPE reports that Bartomeu, who has been involved in another case involving illegalities, 'Barçagate', wrote. In fact, in several of his appearances before the courts, he expressed himself in these same terms: stating that he did not know that anything outside the law had occurred.

'Carrusel Deportivo' goes further and claims, thanks to a report by journalist Adria Albets, that the renewals of Gerard Pique, Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen and Clement Lenglet were also carried out illegally. Bartomeu probably maintains the same position with them as with the Dutchman.