De Jong Contract Renewal ‘On Track,’ Says Barça President

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has declared that he hopes to be able to announce a new contract for Frenkie de Jong in the near future. Speaking at a golf course close to Barcelona in the charity event ‘the Koeman Cup’, Laporta also buried the hatchet with the manager he sacked eight months after returning to power.

Prior to discussing de Jong’s future, Laporta had for a second time this week responded to Athletic Club, as the two giants do battle publicly for the future of Nico Williams. Despite appearing like an almost certain exit at the turn of the year, his situation has turned around.

“We want Frenkie to be here for many years. For me, he’s a key player for our team. It’s on the right track, it’s very much on the right track; I think we’ll have news soon,” Laporta commented to Sport.

After earning a place in Hansi Flick’s starting line-up, relations began to ease between Barcelona and de Jong, who is one of the club’s highest earners due to deferred payments from the previous regime. Despite tensions with the board, who tried to force him out, de Jong is set to accept a new deal with a lower salary say Diario AS. The idea is to get the new contract sealed before the end of the month to help clear salary limit space to register Joan Garcia.

Ronald Koeman and Joan Laporta end tense relations
Koeman was also present at his tournament, and has been highly critical of Laporta over his sacking and the lack of backing he received from the President. However the pair both told the Catalan daily that this was in the past.

“It’s been a while, and yes, we had a coffee because the most important thing is Barca,” Koeman told Sport. “Sometimes in life, there are things much more important than a problem or a conflict between two people. For the good of Barca, the president, and myself, we’ve made peace. We haven’t spoken much; we have to move on; Barca is the most important thing.”

Laporta espoused a similar line of reconciliation.

“There’s affection. Ronald is a great person, as well as a Barca legend. This unites us. We are united by Barca and many feelings. What was happening didn’t make sense. It wasn’t a coffee, it was a shot of coffee to cheer us up. We have friends in common, and it helped us reconnect.”

Football-espana.net