Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

[Isotope]

“Hi Frenkie. We know you took a huge pay cut to help us out, but can you take a pay cut to help us out?

What new players? Oh, THOSE new players? Ignore them, they were all free transfers and they’re on £20k a week.

Hope you say yes as we really want you here, you’ll be our midfield general for years to come.…. … or we’ll fecking ruin you.“

It's all posturing. Xavi would be extremely happy if FdJ stays. FdJ is competing with kids in CM that more often than not, have consistency issue over the long season.

There's NO WAY FdJ would be benched and not playing. Xavi knows Barca will sack him in no time if the result is not there. Xavi will play whoever best player available at his disposal despite what Barca wants.

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

Even when you look at it like that, it just looks so so stupid.
It might very well be his dream club, but to stay somewhere thats treating you like that, and robbing you blind whilst doing it, he's mental if he accepts it

The other thing I cannot fathom is that his agent would sit idly by and not at least try to persuade him not to take this deal.

If he takes a 50% salary cut and his stock then falls at Barca (which, let's be real, is a possibility worth considering if they're going to play him at centre back), he won't be earning anywhere near the amount of money he could be earning if he moves away this summer and might not even have many takers for his signature.

Again, perhaps his love for FC Barcelona really is that strong; they are a club with an aura that pretty much only Real Madrid can match. That being said, this just seems like such a catastrophically bad deal for De Jong to accept when he still holds the cards in the negotiation.

 

[Zed 101]

OMG this is beyond tedious now, I hope we sign him and I hope I am pleasantly surprised by him, but have to say nothing about him as a player excites me and this transfer debacle is not building up my anticipation

 

[sewey89]

Not quite, he's played CB for Ajax and Barca before. Maybe he likes the position, no idea, but his remarks while playing for Netherlands suggest otherwise

not now mate

 

[McGrathsipan]

This is nearing the end for you muppets
I think there will be tears

 

[RedRJ]

Imagine getting your dream move and then being treated like this by a club you’ve adored since childhood. Seriously.

Which other moves to giant clubs have had such an undignified ending as this?

I’m surprised that La Liga and UEFA don’t seem to have much to say about Barca’s scummy treatment of their players. I’m sure that if the shoe was on the other foot and it was an EPL club treating their players like this then UEFA and even La Liga would be all over it.

 

[hellhunter]

The other thing I cannot fathom is that his agent would sit idly by and not at least try to persuade him not to take this deal.

If he takes a 50% salary cut and his stock then falls at Barca (which, let's be real, is a possibility worth considering if they're going to play him at centre back), he won't be earning anywhere near the amount of money he could be earning if he moves away this summer and might not even have many takers for his signature.

Again, perhaps his love for FC Barcelona really is that strong; they are a club with an aura that pretty much only Real Madrid can match. That being said, this just seems like such a catastrophically bad deal for De Jong to accept when he still holds the cards in the negotiation.

Raiola would've cleaved some skulls by now. In this shitshow where everyone seems to be a loser, his agent really comes out as incompetent and incapable of protecting his player's interests

 

[Mickeza]

To be honest with you, i'd be very surprised if he did appear to be sulky in meetings. This is his dream club, he's not going to go into a meeting looking for trouble is he?
As you say he'll be on to his agent right after it saying they've said this, or that... this is far from over i think

I’d be astounded if this “meeting” took place. It’s all posturing and controlling the narrative. They offered him the chance to stay at half his salary and at CB - he refused - we had to sell to register Kounde, Lewandowski and Raphinha. Bad FDJ.

 

[frostbite]

This is nearing the end for you muppets
I think there will be tears

of joy?

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

To be honest with you, i'd be very surprised if he did appear to be sulky in meetings. This is his dream club, he's not going to go into a meeting looking for trouble is he?
As you say he'll be on to his agent right after it saying they've said this, or that... this is far from over i think

Unless his agent is an absolute muppet I would imagine he'd have something to say to De Jong about accepting the deal apparently on offer.

 

[Godfather]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Imagine if that is true. We hunt a player for more than 2 months that rather takes a huge wage cut and plays in a totally different position than what his best is than join us.

 

[Brownie85]

The other thing I cannot fathom is that his agent would sit idly by and not at least try to persuade him not to take this deal.

If he takes a 50% salary cut and his stock then falls at Barca (which, let's be real, is a possibility worth considering if they're going to play him at centre back), he won't be earning anywhere near the amount of money he could be earning if he moves away this summer and might not even have many takers for his signature.

Again, perhaps his love for FC Barcelona really is that strong; they are a club with an aura that pretty much only Real Madrid can match. That being said, this just seems like such a catastrophically bad deal for De Jong to accept when he still holds the cards in the negotiation.

Which is why i really don't think it's going to happen. Theres no way even de Jong could be that besotted with a club that he'd play for 50% less money in a position that isn't his best. You have to think that this is all part of the plan, they must know he won't take that, and it's another step to getting him out. Act all nice "Look Frenkie, we truly value you and we'd love you to stay and be part of the project" and then throw the unacceptable terms "BUT in order for you to do so, you have to take a 50% wage cut, forego the money we owe you AND be willing to play in CB competing with our new signing". Would anyone in their right mind truly take that?

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

At least they are consistent in being awful to their players.

Can't be that awful, half the continent is joining them.

 

[hellhunter]

This is nearing the end for you muppets
I think there will be tears

Running out of lube/lotion can lead to that, yeah

 

[pratyush_utd]

He is not taking a paycut because he has to be insane to take one. Barcelona is throwing money around, and then asking FDJ to take paycut to sit on the bench and play as CB ( not first choice even there), FDJ has to be mental to even contemplate taking that deal.

 

[mu4c_20le]

United fans when Frenkie takes a pay cut to a hero's welcome, and Ronaldo returns to Old Trafford to a hero's welcome

Spoiler

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

This is nearing the end for you muppets
I think there will be tears

Nonsense, I'm not getting off the FDJ muppet train until Orny, Stoney or Ducker tell me that I've reached my stop. And even then, there will always be more transfer targets for us to muppet over.

 

[FujiVice]

Imagine if that is true. We hunt a player for more than 2 months that rather takes a huge wage cut and plays in a totally different position than what his best is than join us.

That would be called a "spineless mug" by anyone in any other profression as well as this one. If he did that, he's an idiot.

 

[croadyman]

Imagine if that is true. We hunt a player for more than 2 months that rather takes a huge wage cut and plays in a totally different position than what his best is than join us.

Keep telling myself surely we aren't stupid enough to get involved if he's so adamant about doing what it takes to stay

 

[Mainoldo]

Good on him if he takes a pay cut. Wouldn’t want them type of players at Old Trafford tbh.

 

[groovyalbert]

This is officially the worst saga now. Just fecking tiresome and has completely derailed our summer window. If he doesn't come we look like absolute mugs. Doesn't help seeing all our rivals being proactive either.

 

[Brownie85]

I’d be astounded if this “meeting” took place. It’s all posturing and controlling the narrative. They offered him the chance to stay at half his salary and at CB - he refused - we had to sell to register Kounde, Lewandowski and Raphinha. Bad FDJ.

Has anyone other than this guy reported it? Also as was in the tweet before, it doesn't say they both left very happy, it says they both left satisfied.
He could be satisfied that he has clarification on his future and what they plan on doing with him. Xavi could be satisfied that de Jong is aware of the situation and he will come to a decision soon. Satisfied could mean anything in this situation

 

[RedPed]

We know why he isn’t saying publically he will leave, because it will likely cost him millions of euros personally.
We know categorically he will not be a dud because we can review his time at Ajax under the same manager we have now, and can see he was an exceptional player which is why Barca forked out £85m for him in the first place.
As for the end of your post, if you can’t see that this deal is every bit the same level as those players you mention then I can’t explain enough to help you out.

You cannot categorically say he won't be a dud unless you're some kind of psychic? I also don't need to remind you of all the players who came to United but certainly didn't conquer. We also paid £80m for Maguire and City/Chelsea paid £100m for Grealish/Lukaku respectively, so quoting transfer fees are an irrelevance.

And if you're seriously putting de Jong on a par with the likes of Mbappe, Kane, Messi etc., I think someone needs to sit you down ad explain a few things yourself.

 

[croadyman]

Nonsense, I'm not getting off the FDJ muppet train until Orny, Stoney or Ducker tell me that I've reached my stop. And even then, there will always be more transfer targets for us to muppet over.

Yeah only those guys are giving me hope

 

[Widow]

If he truly loves the club that much, he'll take a pay cut. I can see it happening soon.

 

[bosnian_red]

I can't see Frenkie saying "yeah sure, I'll play CB and half my wages". Fair enough he's really happy with his life there if he's OK with that. I think he'll come though.

 

[Robertd0803]

This is just..........something else every day at this point.

Utterly beyond logic at this point.

FdJ must seriously love Barca and this treatment to say hes owed money, has to take a pay cut and play out of position and still willing to stay. Or maybe he really really doesnt want to join us.

 

[Garethw]

If he signs a new contract then serious questions have to be asked of the club as to why they have wasted so much time on this.

 

[hellhunter]

If he truly loves the club that much, he'll take a pay cut. I can see it happening soon.

Why didn't he do it already if this was the intention all along?

 

[mu4c_20le]

I’d be astounded if this “meeting” took place. It’s all posturing and controlling the narrative. They offered him the chance to stay at half his salary and at CB - he refused - we had to sell to register Kounde, Lewandowski and Raphinha. Bad FDJ.

When those reports came out, he hadn't spoken with Xavi yet. This is the guy who single handedly turned Raphinha and Kounde around with a single phone call. I mean, it's feckign Xavi lads.

 

[Buzzbee]

I'm in the minority that I think FDJ wants to come to United, but he's in the middle of a pretty high stakes game of poker/chicken with the Bank of Barca.

If he publicly says he wants to come, there's more pressure to take the pay cut. And lose millions (didn't he take a cut initially to help them out in the first place?!).

Go on pre-season tour, put out the messaging you're happy to stay, Barca legally will have to pay him. Even if he left for United without agreeing the pay cut it would be years of court battles ahead. I'd do the exact same thing as the kid, and fair play to him. He's got a very strong position at the table. Barca won't want to pay him all that money to stay if he doesn't play. It's one of the rare cases I actually agree with the United line of wait.. wait.. wait. Because Barca will blink first.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

We’re very much a tier 2 club to be fair.

 

[Brownie85]

If he truly loves the club that much, he'll take a pay cut. I can see it happening soon.

If he truly loved the club, it never would have gotten this far because he'd have done whatever they wanted him to do.
They're doing all they can to force him out, including making very unreasonable demands

 

[Stobzilla]

If the new news is true (it probably isn't) but if it does come to pass that he is happy to not be 1st choice, reduce his wage by half and be thought of now as a CB rather than a 6 or an 8. Then fair fecks to him, he probably tanks his chances of playing in the World Cup and is obviously not interested in being a truly top level talent.

I would also have no ill will towards us. I am happy for the club to act in good faith which is what I think we have done/are doing here, the opposite is, well, acting how Barcelona have and I would be appalled if I was a fan of that unethical shit show.

 

[Brownie85]

When those reports came out, he hadn't spoken with Xavi yet. This is the guy who single handedly turned Raphinha and Kounde around with a single phone call. I mean, it's feckign Xavi lads.

Both players who wanted to go to Barca anyway, so it wouldn't have taken much to get them to go. Really shite example there

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

Maybe it's as simple as him prioritising where he lives over his career, and been able to earn as much money as he possibly can.

He's probably just very happy, already has lots of money, and so football is secondary.

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

Has anyone other than this guy reported it? Also as was in the tweet before, it doesn't say they both left very happy, it says they both left satisfied.
He could be satisfied that he has clarification on his future and what they plan on doing with him. Xavi could be satisfied that de Jong is aware of the situation and he will come to a decision soon. Satisfied could mean anything in this situation

I've read the salient parts of the article and it's nowhere near as committal as the aggregator paints it to be. (Quelle surprise)

Essentially it's saying the meeting took place, Xavi told De Jong he'd need to take a big pay cut to stay and also that he'd like to try him in other positions (i.e. centre-back), and they both left "satisfied". That De Jong would be willing to take the pay cut was sort of inferred by the journalist; it wasn't stated as fact.

Honestly, I'm still at the "who the feck knows what is going on with this transfer" stage. It was about a day ago that Helena Condis (a reputable journalist for Barca news) was saying that they were "confident De Jong would leave". The Spanish sources seem to have been contradicting each other every five minutes on this story, which is why I'd rather wait for something to come out on our side before casting any aspersions. I know that Ducker, Stone etc. have their own agendas to push but at least you can say they have been consistent and their stories have aligned throughout the saga.

 

[Widow]

Why didn't he do it already if this was the intention all along?

Negotiating, maybe?

If he truly loved the club, it never would have gotten this far because he'd have done whatever they wanted him to do.
They're doing all they can to force him out, including making very unreasonable demands

Love is blind. We'll see but all I'm saying is that I wouldn't be surprised to hear he has signed a new long-term deal.

 

[gorky_utd]

Don't want him. He and farca deserve each other. I just hope our board buys other players for the manager.

 

[hellhunter]

Maybe it's as simple as him prioritising where he lives over his career, and been able to earn as much money as he possibly can.

He's probably just very happy, already has lots of money, and so football is secondary.

I could respect that. Not sure I'd want someone like that playing for United, but it's a perfectly valid mindset to have about your life