It looks like Gary Neville has got people in Spain talking.
The former Manchester United captain called on Frenkie de Jong to take legal action over his deferred Barcelona wages.
Now, La Liga president Javier Tebas has weighed in on Barcelona’s attempts to convince De Jong to significantly reduce his salary.
Tebas claims Barcelona know the rules and responsibilities that they need to meet as employers, which we hope develops into an awkward stand-off.
He said (as per Fabrizio Romano): “The players cannot be split from the team or pressured – it’s what collective agreement, the law, reason, ethics mark. From there, Barcelona knows the rules and the responsibilities.”
Well then, they should follow the rules and their responsibilities, no?
De Jong was doing them a favour by deferring his wages during the pandemic. To see their reluctance to pay him back for such a gesture is the opposite of good sportsmanship.
Neville and co should pile the pressure on Barcelona by speaking out more about this in the coming weeks. We often see former players at clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid play a hand in transfer dealings, even if it’s just political…
How can they explain paying big money on Robert Lewandowski, a 33-year-old striker, at a time they owe De Jong €17m!