The speculation surrounding De Jong’s future has rumbled on and his agent met the Barcelona hierarchy on Wednesday.
Manchester United have an agreement worth €85m in place with Barcelona to sign him but the Dutchman is yet to agree to a move.
Chelsea are believed to be in the lead to sign the midfielder but they are not willing to table a bid unless they are sure that De Jong wants to join them.
His preference is to stay at Barcelona but according to Catalan daily Sport, the Catalan giants have asked him to take a drastic pay cut.
It has been claimed that Barcelona have informed the player that he would have to agree to a 50 per cent reduction in his wages to stay at the Nou Camp.
However, the midfielder’s camp are not prepared to discuss a pay cut, especially in the wake of Barcelona spending €150m on new players this summer.
Barcelona are clear that they cannot afford his wages and have told the player that he will have to help the club if he wants to stay.
If he does not agree, Barcelona have told De Jong that he is free to negotiate a departure with either Chelsea or Manchester United.
