Frenkie de Jong has said he never wanted to leave Barcelona in the summer despite pressure from the club to accept offers from Manchester United and Chelsea.
Barca were ready to let De Jong go to ease their financial problems and even agreed a fee with United in the region of €85 million including add-ons.
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However, speaking for the first time since the transfer window closed, the Netherlands midfielder told ESPN he never had any intention of departing Camp Nou.
“Of course it’s calmer now than during the transfer window,” De Jong said ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Nations League game between the Netherlands and Poland.
“But I have to say that, for me, it was always clear what I wanted. That’s why I was also able to stay calm during that period.”
De Jong agreed to defer a large part of his salary when he signed a new contract with Barcelona in 2020, which means for the remaining four years of his deal, which runs until 2026, the club will pay him more than they have done for the last two years.
That makes De Jong one of the highest earners at Barca, but the relationship between the player and the club grew fraught when the club looked for a way out of the contract, sending the player’s camp a letter in July warning there were irregularities in the renewal signed under the previous board in 2020.
