FC Barcelona Set To Receive $100 Million Chelsea Offer For Star Player

FC Barcelona is set to receive a $100 million (£80 million) offer for one of its star players from Chelsea, whose owner Todd Boehly will travel to Catalonia to begin negotiations soon according to El Nacional.

Barca is currently mired in debt and struggling to compete in the transfer market while balancing Financial Fair Play has also proven difficult.

It is widely believed that the club will need to make a big sale or two this summer to bring reinforcements to the Montjuic Stadium and not have problems registering their contracts or the fresh terms of existing stars.

Barca reportedly doesn’t want to sell Ronald Araujo, who has been the subject of interest from Bayern Munich, and sees him as the future of central defense alongside 17-year-old La Masia graduate Pau Cubarsi.

There is no end of options in midfield, however, where Pedri and Gavi are “untouchable”, but Frenkie de Jong is the most sellable asset that could bring in a high fee without having to offload the two Spain prodigies.

While De Jong was put on the market in 2021 when Barca accepted a $90 million (€85 million) bid from Manchester United for him according to The Athletic, his status in the team has changed.

The Dutchman proved his worth to outgoing head coach Xavi Hernandez, and went from being a benchwarmer to an undisputed starter alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Pedri as things currently stand.

In a similar stance to that taken on Araujo, Barca aren’t going out of their way to sell De Jong but will listen to offers of $107 million (€100 million) for him according to Mundo Deportivo.

At present, the board is trying to get De Jong to extend his contract for a further three seasons and then spread the money he is currently owed after deferring during the pandemic over the corresponding years he is tied to the club.

As explained by Esport3, De Jong is currently the highest paid member of the first team squad who will earn $26.7 million (€24.8 million) this season, $25 million (€23.2 million) next term, and $24.8 million (€23 million) in the final year of his contract.

If De Jong doesn’t want to make concessions, Chelsea could step in and relieve the Catalans of their financial burden with co-owner Todd Boehly ready to head to Barcelona to start negotiations reports El Nacional.