Former Manchester United player Gary Neville has urged Barcelona midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, to ‘consider legal action’ against his club.
The Dutch midfielder who is a transfer target of the Red Devils is owed over £17million in wages due to the Catalan club’s dire financial situation. Despite this, the Spanish club has continued to make blockbuster signings in the summer transfer market.
This summer, Barca have already splashed almost £100m on Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha. They received an injection of cash earned through initial TV rights sales and now look set to beat Chelsea to the signing of Sevilla defender Jules Kounde.
However, they continue to owe De Jong who is reportedly unwilling to walk away from the deferred wages, stalling his move to Manchester United this summer.
Speaking about the situation of De Jong and other Barca players, Neville took to social media to slam the Spanish giants, who have chosen not to repay their current players with the influx of money.
The ex-England defender also advised De Jong to take up legal action against the club.
“De Jong should consider legal action versus Barcelona and all players should be behind him!” he said on Twitter.
“A club spending fortunes on new players whilst not paying the ones they have under contract their full money is immoral and a breach.
“FIFPRO should be all over bullying like this and stop it.”
Manchester United had agreed on a £63m deal with Barcelona for the former Ajax midfielder, but the player is opposed to leaving until he is paid all the money owed to him by the club.
Xavi’s side initially asked De Jong to defer £17m in wages and have since tried to resolve the matter by allowing him to leave in a £70m-plus deal to Man United, although this would still leave him £10m short, according to the Independent.
