FC Barcelona Fans Jeer And Whistle High-Earning De Jong And Lenglet

As shown in a video clip shared on social media by COPE‘s Victor Navarro in the Dutchman’s case, some FC Barcelona fans jeered and whistled high-earners Frenkie de Jong and Clement Lenglet in the Montjuic Stadium on Monday as they were presented before the Joan Gamper Trophy match against AS Monaco.

The Joan Gamper Trophy match is viewed by many as being Barca’s season opener ahead of its La Liga debut, which in 2024/2025 comes away to Valencia at the Mestalla on August 17.

The first team squad is traditionally presented before the fixture against an invited team kicks off, and in De Jong and Lenglet’s instances, they received a frosty reception from some pockets of fans.

It doesn’t take much detective work to come to a conclusion on possible motives for this.

Thanks to money that was deferred during the pandemic under the rule of current President Joan Laporta’s predecessor Josep Bartomeu, they are set to be two of the squad’s highest earners alongside Robert Lewandowski.

According to El Confidencial, De Jong will earn $24 million (€22 million) this season while $17.5 million (€16 million) should come Lenglet’s way if he isn’t sold or sent out on loan again reported El Desmarque.

Lenglet has been shipped off to the Premier League temporarily for the past two summers, to Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa respectively, in order to get his hefty wages off the payroll.

Head coach Hansi Flick is said to have been impressed by the Frenchman in preseason, but Barca simply can’t afford to pay such astronomical sums for a back up player with the likes of Pau Cubarsi, Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen all taking preference over him at centre back.

As for De Jong, Laporta accepted a $93 million (€85 million) offer from Manchester United for his services in 2022 according to The Athletic, only for the midfielder to turn down the chance to reunite with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag.

United has resurfaced again with its interest in De Jong, who is still yet to sign a new contract and spread his pay out a bit over the years to alleviate Barca’s financial burdens.

Lenglet isn’t budging either, and it is highly likely that this was the reason for the jeers from some Culers, who perhaps see the duo as inadvertently blocking the pursuit of transfer targets such as Spain’s Euro 2024 winner Nico Williams.

SPORT reported that the left winger has agreed to join Barca, but raising his $67.8 million (€62 million) release clause is far from straightforward.