Barcelona decide not to sign on-loan forward on a permanent transfer | OneFootball

The delayed deadline day signing of Luuk de Jong from Sevilla was not entirely welcomed by Barcelona supporters.

While the towering forward had all the backing from manager Ronald Koeman, his record of four goals in 34 La Liga matches in the previous season meant there were question marks raised over his arrival.

Luuk was brought in by the Catalans as a late replacement for Antoine Griezmann, who had departed to Atletico Madrid. Despite the Frenchman’s struggles at Camp Nou, he had still managed to score 20 goals in the preceding campaign and signing a target man with a rather unappealing record in recent seasons was not well-received.

And, the concerns have proven well-founded two months into the new campaign as the Dutchman has struggled to make an impact at Barcelona. To date, he has managed just a solitary goal from eight games across all competitions (392 minutes).

Moreover, Luuk has proven ineffective in the box, with his hold-up play and first-touch disappointing, while he has also been guilty of not putting away simple chances. Oftentimes when sent on from the substitutes’ bench to impact games, he has hampered Barca’s play rather than improve things on the pitch.

Now, El Nacional is now reporting that Barcelona president Joan Laporta realises that it was a mistake to bring in Luuk from Sevilla. It is claimed that while there had been concerns within the club hierarchy over his signing, they caved into Koeman’s demands and decided to sign him.

However, having seen how unimpactful his arrival has been, Barcelona have now decided to cut ties with the former Newcastle United striker. Fortunately for the Catalans, they had signed the veteran forward on a season-long loan deal with an option of making the transfer permanent at the end of the season.

Now, however, Barca have decided not to take up that option and send de Jong back to Sevilla when the season is over. The 31-year-old was whistled by the supporters when he came on against Real Madrid on Sunday and failed to make any sort of impact as the Blaugrana pushed for an equaliser.

While Koeman was quick to defend his compatriot in his post-match presser, it seems like the decision over his future might have already been made by the club hierarchy.