‘I would be gone…’ – Reported Liverpool target might just have invited FSG to swoop for him
One player who’s recently been linked with Liverpool might just have sent an open invitation to prospective suitors to lure him away from his current club.
Last week, TEAMtalk reported that the Reds have shown a ‘genuine interest’ in signing Frenkie de Jong, whose profile is seemingly admired by coaching staff at Anfield, and it’s claimed that Barcelona would be prepared to entertain offers of around €35m (£29.1m) for the Dutchman.
The 27-year-old isn’t the only midfielder who’s thought to be on FSG’s radar, with Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White also believed to be a target on Merseyside.
De Jong opens up about Barcelona frustration
De Jong gave an unrestrained interview to Voetbal International in which he didn’t exactly copperfasten his commitment to his current club, who he joined in 2019 and where he’s under contract for another 18 months.
The Netherlands international admitted: “I have to admit that when I signed for Barcelona, I didn’t imagine to win only one La Liga, one Copa del Rey and one Spanish SuperCup after four years [sic]. I expected at least double, so that disappoints me.
“Things happen along the way you can’t predict. People think I want to stay at Barcelona forever because life outside football is so good here, and it is good, but it’s still less important to what happens on the pitch.
“If I would feel that I can’t contribute enough, or if the team can’t compete, I would be gone.”
Hard to envisage Liverpool signing De Jong in 2025
De Jong is evidently frustrated with how his career at Barcelona has gone, with the Catalan giants often eclipsed by arch-rivals Real Madrid domestically and in Europe in recent years and the midfielder dogged by numerous injury issues across several seasons.
The 27-year-old has made just two starts in all competitions this term, with his total game-time amounting to 362 minutes (Transfermarkt); and he’s seen his side win just one of their last seven league games, thus losing a commanding lead and being bumped down to third.
The Dutchman had seemed destined for stardom earlier in his career, with Marc Overmars saying that the midfielder ‘could become a Xavi or an Iniesta’ and Netherlands legend Arie Haan even labelling him ‘a better version of Franz Beckenbauer’.
However, De Jong hasn’t managed to live up to such stratospheric comparisions at Barcelona, and for all his undoubted talent, it’s difficult to envisage Liverpool splashing out on him.
His appalling injury record is an obvious concern and also suggests that he’ll struggle to ever reproduce the levels he showed when inspiring Ajax to the brink of the Champions League final in 2019, while Arne Slot is already nicely stocked for high-quality midfield options.
Furthermore, as outlined by TEAMtalk, the 27-year-old would have to accept a reduction on his current wages if he were to join the Reds, something to which he mightn’t be amenable.
At the start of the decade, De Jong would’ve seemed like a blockbuster signing for Liverpool, but in 2025 a move to Anfield would be quite a surprise, even with his apparent ‘come and get me’ message to prospective suitors.
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