€60m Barcelona midfielder’s agent makes inquiries about Saudi Arabia amid his uncertain future | OneFootball

As the first half of the 2024-25 season comes to a close, there has been an increase in the transfer speculation surrounding FC Barcelona in the last few weeks. The Catalans are being linked with several new arrivals as well as some departures.

One of the names that has most vigorously been linked with a move away from the Blaugrana club has been the midfielder Frenkie de Jong, whose high wages continue to be a problem for Barcelona. The Catalans will keen to retain him in their squad, if only he agreed to a new contract with lower wages, but the negotiations for this new contract have been dragging on for some time now.

In such a context, Diario AS has provided a hint about one of the future destinations that the Dutch midfielder might have in his mind as they report that his agent, Ali Dursun, has been making inquiries about the Saudi Pro League and life in the Middle Eastern country in general.

Following its rapid rise in the last few years, the Saudi Pro League has now stabilised to a significant extent, and it does not likely to pass away from the scene, especially after Saudi Arabia has been awarded the hosting rights for the FIFA World Cup 2034.

However, for now, De Jong’s agents have only made inquiries about the customs and day-to-day life in the country. But there is every reason to expect that these initial inquiries can grow into an actual operation going forward as Saudi clubs remain one of the few options that can give Frenkie the wages that he hopes despite his market value having dropped by €30 million in the last few months.