Barcelona are reportedly desperate to get rid of Luuk de Jong this winter, with the underperforming Dutch forward set for a January exit.
According to a report by Spanish publication SPORT, Luuk de Jong appears set to become surplus to requirements at Barcelona heading into the January transfer window. On loan from Sevilla, the veteran Dutch striker will likely be shifted out of Camp Nou this coming winter.
Luuk de Jong has been a journeyman of a footballer through his senior career at the club level. Since making his first-team debut for VBV De Graafschap in 2008, the 31-year-old has turned out for six more clubs, with his longest stint being at PSV Eindhoven, from 2014 to 2019.
The Dutch international joined Sevilla in the summer of 2019 but could never establish himself as a regular for Los Nervionenses. And the advent of Youssef En-Nesyri sent him tumbling down the pecking order before the Andalusian club decided to loan him out to fellow La Liga outfit Barcelona in the summer.
The deadline day loan move to Barcelona certainly came as a major surprise. Even though the Catalan giants were desperate to bolster their attack in the dying embers of the summer transfer window, there was an argument that de Jong would not bring much to the table for the first-team squad at Camp Nou.
That has exactly turned out to be the case, with the 31-year-old managing just one goal in nine appearances across all competitions to date this season. Things have now reached a head at Barcelona, who are eager to offload him in the January transfer window.
It is undeniable that de Jong’s signing was at Ronald Koeman’s behest, and with the Dutch manager no longer at the helm at Camp Nou, his compatriot has rightly been deemed surplus to requirements. Such a situation comes in the wake of Barcelona legend Luis Suarez Miramontes’ scathing attack on de Jong recently.
It has been suggested that Xavi is set to take over as the new Barcelona boss in the coming days, with the Blaugrana touted to enter the market for an attacking reinforcement in January to aid him going into the second half of the season. However, if they are to bolster their attack, Barcelona will first have to get de Jong off their books, and it remains to be seen if they do get the loan deal cancelled this winter.
