Frenkie De Jong is Ready for Barcelona

There are no more secrets when it comes to top-tier soccer. It seems like everybody has been scouted, but opponents are still trying their best to figure out how to successfully handle someone like Frenkie De Jong.

Frenkie De Jong and Barcelona

Last year, the Dutchman, who recently turned 22 on 12 May 2019, was nearly unknown outside the borders of Netherlands. However, in January of this year, Barcelona agreed to buy the player for €75 million.

Josep Bartomeu, the president of Barcelona, recently admitted that the signing was quite risky because the player is quite young. However, some individual players are only good for 1 or 2 seasons, and then some players are fantastic for 10 or 12 years like Gerard Pique or Lionel Messi. The president believes that Frenkie De Jong is someone that will create an era for himself and will probably become one of the best players in the world, if not the best. De Jong is a good player. However, does he have what it takes to become a sensational player? Will Barcelona be the perfect club for him, and what changes will he go through during his stay there?

For now, Frenkie De Jong is a unique player when it comes to football. During his first match against France in a top-tier game, he kept going past Antoine Griezmann. Griezmann later stated that De Jong is his best opponent as he tried to put the player under pressure, but it never seemed to work. This alone makes De Jong the perfect creator in terms of modern football. Pep Guardiola believes that while defences are getting quicker and savvier, it’s becoming more difficult to pass them apart as his Barcelona side did ten years ago. You now require players that can create opportunities by beating their man and having superior passing skills like De Jong.

During the quarterfinals of the Champions League, De Jong made a total of 134 forward passes that went into the opponent’s half. That’s more than any other team’s midfielder apart from Toni Kroos. Frenkie De Jong is also an elegant and practical tackler.

Frenkie De Jong’s Future

With the stats provided above, it’s no wonder elite clubs in Europe are after him. Last summer, De Jong turned down an offer from Tottenham Hotspur, who deserves kudos for realizing his talent first. However, this year is an entirely different ball game altogether. Manchester City, Barcelona, and Paris-Saint Germain wanted him, leaving the 21-year-old awake at night trying to decide between each club. However, De Jong grew up loving Barcelona as a teenager, which helped him to make a decision. Even though the club did not offer the highest salary when compared to other elite clubs, he still decided to go with Barcelona and the club couldn’t be happier.