Frenkie de Jong says he knew Barcelona would ‘pressure’ him to leave amid Man Utd transfer interest
BARCELONA star Frenkie de Jong has claimed he knew Barcelona were going to “pressure” him into leaving.
The club wanted to sell him to Manchester United over the summer but De Jong did not want to go.
The central midfielder has spoken out as he has been regularly left out of the starting XI by manager Xavi in big games.
He has admitted he saw this situation coming after being shown the exit door with Pedri and Gavi ahead of him in the pecking order.
De Jong told Ziggo Sport: “I was calm. I decided in May that I wanted to stay. My opinion has never changed during this entire period.
“I stayed calm. But then you know the pressure would start to come.
READ MORE ON MAN UTD
“Yes, from the newspapers, from the president, exactly. From everywhere actually. But I wanted to stay at Barca so it never baffled me.”
De Jong has not played in crucial Champions League ties against Bayern Munich or Inter Milan.
Meanwhile in LaLiga he was benched against Sevilla and there are doubts over his place in the side tomorrow for the El Classico versus bitter rivals Real Madrid.
He has played 10 times this season scoring one goal but just four have been starts – most coming versus weaker opponents like Viktoria Plzen, Cadiz and Elche.
Most read in Football
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
De Jong continued: “I want to be a starter again. Against Bayern, I was not a starter and I hope to be against Real Madrid.
“Maybe he [Xavi] has already decided, but normally we don’t know until the day of the game.”
Spanish outlet Sport claims the Dutchman is “disgusted” at his lack of minutes this season.
This all comes after he even took a wage cut to stay at the club to help with their financial struggles over the summer.
Man Utd chased the signing of De Jong throughout the most recent transfer window and despite sizeable bids they could not get the deal over the line.
Erik ten Hag appeared desperate to work with the 25-year-old again, as he did at Ajax, but he still chose Barca with United not having Champions League football this season.