Here is how Neymar helped Frenkie De Jong join Barcelona over PSG.
Frenkie De Jong decided his destination to move to Barcelona and the deal was formally announced by the Blaugrana earlier this week. With this transfer, the 21-year-old became the expensive Dutch player in the history by sealing a 90 million euro move to the reigning Spanish Champions.
Before making up his mind to move to Barcelona and play alongside Lionel Messi, the Dutch midfielder attracted intense interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. The English outfit pulled out of the deal because they were not able to willing to match Ajax and players demands. On the other hand, the reigning French Champions were willing to go for a complete tussle with Barcelona to his signing.
But, Thomas Tuchel was not able to convince him despite trying to hijack a move in the twelfth hour by luring him away from Amsterdam to Paris. A week before Barcelona announced the signing, there were several reports quoting that PSG were the front-runners for the Ajax midfielder.
Hearing about the late plot from Paris, Barcelona’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu decided to fly to Amsterdam to complete a deal and formally announce his departure from Cryuff Arena.
Frenkie de Jong, announced.
Full story 👉 https://t.co/XRRql1NLyu #EnjoyDeJong
🔵🔴— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 23, 2019
With the arrival of Frenkie De Jong we add talent, youth and Barça style to our sporting project. We are convinced that he will be a key part of our team for years to come. Welcome, Frenkie! pic.twitter.com/9HCHmrlqvj
— Josep Maria Bartomeu (@jmbartomeu) January 23, 2019
Some news broke down that Neymar might have been the focal point to this move. According to the ESPN journalist Richard Martin, Bartomeu showed text messages from Neymar when the Brazilian complained about the low standards of the Ligue 1 compared to the La Liga to convince him to join the Catalonia outfit.
This is fantastic. Barça showed Frenkie De Jong Neymar’s Whatsapp messages asking to come back to Barça in order to convince the Dutchman to choose the club over PSG https://t.co/qzlOsnJyRi
— Richard Martin (@Rich9908) January 27, 2019
During the negotiations between Bartomeu and De Jong, Bartomeu showed Frenkie Whatsapp messages from Neymar in which he complained about the low level of the French league, in order to convince him to join Barcelona. Next level negotiating.
— Mootaz Chehade (@MHChehade) January 27, 2019
In addition to this, it was the La Liga outfit who offered him more wages when compared to PSG. It is understood that Barcelona are offering a premium of 10 million euros per year and another six million euros addons which depends on the performance.
On the other hand, PSG offered just seven million which would rise up to 10 million. It is one of the reasons why Pep Guardiola pulled out of the deal. The Manchester City manager decided to back out when their arch-rivals Manchester United decided to offer him a ludicrous wage to lure Alexis Sanchez to Old Trafford.
There is no doubt that the Catalans have made a sensational signing and could keep him for years to come should his performance talk on the pitch.
