Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed why the club rejected an offer of €100m (£87.2m) for midfielder Frenkie de Jong during the summer.
Dutch star De Jong arrived in 2019 from Ajax and has often been linked with a move to Manchester United.
Bayern Munich contacted the La Liga champions over the summer to gauge the 26-year-old’s availability for a transfer, acutely aware of their financial struggles.
However, De Jong is now into his fifth season as a Barca player and Laporta told the club’s general assembly they rejected a transfer due to his skill and strong performance.
He said: “We cannot improve sportingly if we do not do our homework economically. We have had the opportunity to sell Frenkie de Jong for €100m, and we did not want to do it so as not to lose our ability to be competitive.”
De Jong himself recently alluded to a ‘situation’ he had with Laporta when Man Utd’s interest was at its strongest but insisted there are no issues between the pair.
Back in May, he said: “My relationship with the president is good. In reality, it has never been bad.”
Man Utd had agreed a fee with Barca worth €85m in 2022 but De Jong has never publicly announced a desire to leave Catalonia, despite the club’s alleged efforts to move him on to free up space in wages.
De Jong agreed a pay cut during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and the issue of deferred wages also proved a roadblock in any potential transfer materialising.
De Jong is currently out injured, last playing in the 3-2 win over Celta Vigo in September.
He’s not the only Barca star sidelined, with Pedri, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde and Sergi Roberto all absent from the squad set to face Athletic Club on Sunday night.
Laporta recently claimed rivals Real Madrid are partly to blame for Barca’s charges by Spanish prosecutors over the Negreira case.