Update: Other sources corroborate report that Bayern Munich has interest in FC Barcelona’s Frenkie De Jong

Update

[10:35AM EST] Both Goal and SPOX are confirming that Bayern Munich does, indeed, at least have interest in FC Barcelona’s Frenkie De Jong — referring to the Dutchman as being “at the top” of Bayern’s wish list:

Information from Goal and SPOX coincide with the report of the Barcelona-based newspaper. De Jong, already at the top of the wish list of the Bayern squad planners around Hasan Salihamidzic during the Ajax times, is a person the German record champions are concerned with.

Goal also issued another report on Bayern Munich’s alleged interest as well:

Should Barcelona be forced to sell, though, there is at least one team waiting to make a move as Goal and Spox can confirm Bayern Munich remain a big admirer of the Dutch midfielder.

Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic remains a fan of De Jong, and has remained in contact with the midfielder’s agent in the time since the Dutchman’s decision. A potential move for De Jong would fill a need for Bayern, who have earmarked a midfield addition as a priority going forward.

Grab your popcorn, I guess?

Before he eventually signed with FC Barcelona, midfield phenom Frenkie De Jong underwent a long courtship process that included rumors that Bayern Munich was heavily interested in the Netherlands international.

Could the Bavarians be looking to rekindle their pursuit?

According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, FC Barcelona is hoping to generate funds to fight its growing organizational debt and is considering a sale of De Jong — and Bayern Munich is among the prospective buyers. At 23-years-old, De Jong is considered one of the best, young midfielders in the world, but would surely be an expensive purchase for a club that already has Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka as lockdown starters:

Barça is aware that Bayern are in contact with Ali Durson, De Jong’s agent, to let him know that if there were the possibility of negotiating for the midfielder, they would be willing to talk.

The elephant in the room is the rumored €400 million exit clause that De Jong allegedly has in his contract. It is safe to assume that if Bayern Munich really is kicking the tires on De Jong, that would not be on their agenda:

Naturally, (Bayern would be) ignoring the €400 million clause. There would be a discussion about market prices that revolve around the same thing that Barcelona promised to pay Ajax when they bought them for €75 million plus €11 million in incentives.

BFW Analysis

De Jong recently extended his contract with FC Barcelona, so this news is curious. To think he would be open to leaving would mean two things:

• The sporting situation is a mess
• The club is in the midst of a financial crisis

Okay...so, both of those things are true, but Barcelona surely is not looking to take too big of a loss on selling De Jong, which makes this rumor a bit far-fetched.

Like any savvy business, there is no doubt that Bayern Munich is looking at a distressed asset (FC Barcelona) and potentially seeing an opportunity to make a move. The Bavarians, however, have given no indication that they are ready to make a big (€50 million or more) purchase any time soon.

With Bayern Munich allegedly showing interest in Borussia Monchengladbach’s Florian Neuhaus and Denis Zakaria, along with Stade Rennais’ Eduardo Camavinga, it makes sense that there are rumors linking the Bavarians to De Jong, but there is plenty of reason to doubt the validity of the report at this stage.